(NEXSTAR) – Michael Che has seemingly returned to Instagram after receiving backlash over jokes he re-posted about Simone Biles.
The “Saturday Night Live” star, who co-hosts “Weekend Update,” had previously cleared his account after causing controversy on Thursday with remarks about the Olympic gold-medalist. Che had posted an Instagram story earlier that day claiming he had written “like 3 minutes of Simone Biles jokes” after Biles withdrew from the Olympic competition earlier in the week. He added that he was planning to perform the jokes at a New York comedy club that night.
“As the dorky kids say, I’m choosing violence,” he wrote in his Instagram story, according to screengrabs that have since been shared on social media.
In subsequent posts, Che shared jokes about Biles that were submitted to him by other Instagram users, including one about disgraced former gymnastics doctor Larry Nassir, which Che himself called “absolutely tasteless.” He also rated the jokes on a scale of 1–10, giving that particular message a nine.
Che later cleared his Instagram account, but not before leaving a tongue-in-cheek message claiming he was hacked.
“Maaannnn, I got hacked today,” read the message, according to a screengrab cited by Deadline. “can’t believe they got me. yall know I only do jokes about whites and cops. all good now, I changed my password and everything.”
On Friday, Che seemingly took responsibility on Instagram, sharing some of the responses he received from fans and critics after Thursday’s posts. In one, Che appeared to feign concern that an “interior designer” was criticizing his actions. In at least two others, he wrote “lol” in response to the media’s coverage of the incident.
He also re-posted a message from a critic who phrased his complaint in the form of a joke, calling Che a “C-list celebrity” and a “talentless hack.”
“Too wordy,” Che responded.
As of Saturday morning, Che’s Friday posts were still active on his Instagram story.
Che has so far refrained from sharing any of the alleged material he had written about Biles, who withdrew from Olympic competition on Tuesday. The decorated gymnast cited issues with mental health as well as “the twisties,” a phenomenon that occurs when an athlete loses spatial awareness during aerial twists.
Che joined “SNL” as a writer in 2013 before becoming co-anchor on “Weekend Update.” He also stars in the HBO Max series “That Damn Michael Che.” The show was renewed for a second season last week.