SNL 'DJesus Uncrossed'; Sears and JCPenney Remove Online Ads During Controversial VIDEO
A Saturday Night Live sketch posted online that mocked Jesus started a boycott by a conservative group focused on retailers that advertise during the video.
The skit titled DJesus Uncrossed aired on Feb. 16 and starred show host Christoph Waltz playing the Biblical figure in a Quentin Tarantino-style short film based on Django Unchained. Waltz is seen in the violent sketch slaughtering Roman soldiers with a sword after Jesus is resurrected.
The SNL video was posted online with featured advertisements from Sears and JCPenney but the retailers have since pulled their ads due to pressure from a Christian watchdog group.
The controversial skit pushed the limits of the American Family Association (AFA), who petitioned to get the department stores to support their cause to remove ads from NBC's website that shows the controversial skit.
AFA president Tim Wildman was quoted by Fox News saying that retailers that support controversial videos such as DJesus Uncrossed will lose customers to boycotts, but those stores that remove their ads have nothing to fear.
"As long as corporations support this kind of offensive material, their sales are going to suffer as shoppers abandon retailers that support blasphemy," Wildman said. "I hope folks can reinstate their patronage to these stores and that Sears and JCPenney can stick with the good decisions they have now made."
A representative for Sears stated that the online advertisements during the skit were removed, but that Sears still planned to run its ads during the broadcast of the NBC show as well as other online skits.
"We informed customers that it wasn't supposed to happen, and while going forward we may advertise on the broadcast, we've taken steps to ensure that our commercials do not air online exactly as they did in this situation," Sears explained, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The online video of DJesus Uncrossed also had advertisements from JCPenney, but the company has since removed its ads from the online skit. JCPenney will also apparently remove its ads from the next episode of SNL, according to The Huffington Post.
