Via Mediaite, we learn comedian Keegan-Michael Key – who performed with President Obama as his character “Luther the Anger Translator” – was merely acting out with attack lines given to him by the White House writers shop. So it really was Team Obama unloading on CNN and Fox and Chuck Todd in the routine.
“They wrote it, the White House wrote the piece,” Key told an interviewer from TMZ. “He just told me, whatever you do, just don’t break up out there, just don’t laugh while we’re doing it, and I said, ‘OK, sir, I promise.”
This is how the bashing erupted:
BARACK OBAMA: Because despite our differences, we count on the press to shed light on the most important issues of the day.KEY as LUTHER: And we can count on Fox News to terrify all white people with nonsense! Sharia law is coming to Cleveland! Run for the damn hills! Y’all's ridiculous.
OBAMA: We won't always see eye to eye.
KEY as LUTHER: And, CNN, thank you so much for the wall to wall Ebola coverage. For two whole weeks, we were one step away from "The Walking Dead." And then you all got up and moved on to the next thing. That was awesome. Oh, and by the way, if you haven't noticed, you don't have Ebola!
When Obama brought up climate change, "Luther" mentioned California is "bone dry," and “Y’all think Bradley Cooper came here because he wants to talk to Chuck Todd? He needed a glass of water!”
Asked if he thinks Obama has a Hollywood career ahead of him after he leaves office, Key joked, “I think he should. I think he could make a run at Denzel’s spot.” But, he added, he may need to “put on a few more pounds, because he’s kind of thin.”
