Not a good look.
Nick Cannon’s comedy sketch series “Wild ‘N Out” has caught controversy yet again after comedian and cast member Jessie Woo said an off-color joke about the late, great Whitney Houston on Thursday’s episode.
During one of the show’s games, people had to create voice messages while impersonating famous celebs. Woo was tasked with doing an impression of Houston.
The “Love & Hip Hop Miami” star then began to sing a snippet of the singer’s ballad “I Will Always Love You” — holding Houston’s famous long note on the opening words “And I …” — but then abruptly stopping and saying, “I’m dead.” The audience was shocked, and when a clip of the episode hit Twitter, fans dragged Woo for being insensitive.
“#WildNOut is my favorite show. I’ve followed it since 2006. But, I’ll no longer be watching, if Jessie Woo, is a part of the cast. That Whitney Houston joke, was way outta line. She owes Whitney’s family & fans, an apology. Go back to love & hip hop, with that,” wrote one disgruntled fan.
Another viewer chimed in, “The way ugly haters disrespect Whitney Houston is disgusting. I wish her true fans came to her defense instead of staying silent. Because if someone ever comes for Natalie Cole like that I’m lighting your ugly ass up. Jessie Woo you are ugly inside and out! #WildNOut.”
“Now Jessi[e] Woo know she was wrong for that Whitney Joke. That was tasteless. Don’t disrespect Whitney #WildNOut,” added another. “Whitney gonna haunt Jessie’s ass #WildNOut,” said one fan.
Woo, however, pushed back on the cascade of criticism.
“The show is called “WILD N OUT” for a reason… and still I was able to say some wild shit without picking low hanging fruit like her history with drugs… unlike the many comedians who have for decades,” she tweeted Friday morning. “I pushed the envelope and I am proud of me.”
Later, when a naysayer said that no one on set laughed at her joke, she countered, “They were in shock then they ALL laughed. Nick Cannon literally fell to the floor.”
Woo also suggested that she was being dragged solely because she’s a female comic.
“Male Comedians and folks on twitter make jokes about Whitney’s battle with drugs still till this day… but me impersonating her during a voicemail game by singing her song & saying ‘I’m dead’ (a great excuse why she cannot come to the phone)… but I went too far?” she wrote.
Houston died on Feb. 11, 2012, at the age of 48 due to drowning. A coroner indicated that cocaine use and heart disease played a role in her passing.
Woo’s shtick may have been ill-timed, too. On Wednesday, ABC aired an hour-long special, titled “Superstar: Whitney Houston,” that profiled the “Heartbreak Hotel” crooner and interviewed friends who were close to her, such as singers Brandy Norwood and Chaka Khan.
“I had been working with [Houston’s mother] Cissy for quite a while as a background singer and one day we were in the studio, and she said, ‘You know, I have a daughter who can sing,’” Khan said in the special. She then told her to bring her daughter to the studio. “[Houston] was amazing, just amazing.”
“She kicked down doors for every black female artist, every black artist and artists in general,” said Norwood. The two R&B singers starred together in the 1997 movie “Cinderella.”
“She talked to me about the pressures of this business. And media and fame and what it could do,” Norwood continued. “Everyone in your business — everybody wants this from you, wants that from you. That can be very straining on someone’s life and someone’s mind and someone’s spirit.”