As the Corona Virus continues to change the daily life of many, Saturday Night Live was taped virtually over the weekend, with cast members recording from their homes. While filming the weekend update section of the show, host, Michael Che revealed that his grandmother had recently passed away. To honnor her death, Che decided to pay a month’s rent for everyone living in his grandmother’s housing complex.
During Che, and cohost, Colin Jost’s segment, Che revealed that he lost his grandmother to the Corona Virus. Che jokingly convinced Jost to read a controversial joke he wrote, claiming that their joke-swaps were her favorite part of weekend update. Jost conceded, and Che revealed that his grandmother didn’t actually watch SNL. “I just wanted you to do that,” Che told Jost.
Later Che took to Instagram to post the news that he would be donating in his grandmother’s honnor. Che announced that he would pay a month’s rent for all 160 residents of his grandmother’s public housing complex.
Growing up in a public housing complex, Che has supported them before, recently hosting a comedy show to raise funds.
“It’s a very generous offer, and we really think it will be a benefit to those households in the building,” said Gregory Russ, the head of the New York City Housing Authority, which oversees around 166,000 public housing apartments within the city.
With over 111,000 confirmed cases of Corona Virus and 7,000 deaths in New York City, residents have been placed under strict orders to stay home, causing many difficulty maintaining their income. And, for the elderly and immunocompromised, breaking quarantine in order to work can be deadly.
He stated on Instagram, “It’s crazy to me that residents of public housing are still expected to pay their rent when so many New Yorkers can’t even work. Obviously I can’t offer much help by myself. But in the spirit and memory of my late grandmother, I’m paying one month’s rent for all 160 apartments in the New York Housing Dept. building she lived in. I know that’s just a drop in the bucket, so I really hope the city has a better plan for debt forgiveness for all the people in public housing, at the very least.” He then called out to famous New York City natives, Bill de Blasio, Andrew Cuomo, and Diddy to help save the city.
Che followed up on Instagram stating, “I’m doing OK, considering. I’m obviously very hurt and angry that she had to go through all that pain alone. But I’m also happy that she’s not in pain anymore.” He continued, “I don’t know if I’ll lose someone else to this virus. I don’t know if I’ll be lost to this virus.”
Photo Source: ET Canada