SNL comedian Michael Che slammed for reposting vicious joke about Larry Nassar's sexual assault of Simone Biles

Michael Che has been slammed for sharing a series of tasteless jokes about Olympic gymnast Simone Biles on his Instagram account.

In a series of Instagram stories that have since been deleted by the Saturday Night Live comedian, Che posted messages about the gymnast who withdrew from the team and all-round finals at Tokyo 2020 earlier this week.

While Biles was mostly praised for her decision to withdraw on the grounds of her mental health, Che wrote about wanting to make jokes about the athlete, and then asked for his followers to share their own jokes about her.

Michael Che has been attacked for sharing a series of tasteless jokes about Olympic gymnast Simone Biles on his Instagram account.

Gymnastics superstar Simone Biles was pulled out of the team final because of a 'mental issue' following a shock error on vault - leaving her forced to watch from the sidelines as her teammates were defeated by their Russian rivals

The comedian then shared some of the responses he received about Biles, along with ratings out of ten based on how good he thought the so-called joke was.

'Man, I wanna make fun of Simone Biles,' Che wrote on his first Instagram story on the topic. 'I got like 3 mins of Simone Biles jokes in my head. Im going to the cellar tonight to say them into a microphone. As the dorky kids say I'm choosing violence.'

His followers then sent him a series of responses, which he reposed to his Instagram stories with a rating and his own thoughts on the comments.

One of the 'jokes', which Che rated 9/10, was about Larry Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics doctor was was convicted of abusing hundreds of women and girls in his care. 

He received multiple sentences which given his age means he will die behind bars. 

'Goddamn, that's rough,' Che said in response to the Nassar comment. 'Absolutely tasteless. 9/10,' he added.

In response to a second message, this time a racist message, he said: 'Now that's a good joke. economical. referential. balanced. good job. 8/10.' 

Pictured: Messages posted to Instagram by Che saying he wanted to make jokes at the expense of Olympian Simone Biles, before sharing jokes shared by his followers

Michael Che come on bro smh pic.twitter.com/vi1Zz07yu0

— BallerAlert (@balleralert) July 29, 2021

Michael Che come on bro smh pic.twitter.com/vi1Zz07yu0

Before they were deleted, a Twitter account by the name of 'BallerAlert' shared screenshots of the messages from Che's Instagram account, writing 'Michael Che come on bro smh (shake my head)'. 

Che later posted to his Instagram stories, in the same font and white-text-on-black-background style as his previous messages to claim his account had been 'hacked'.

'Mannnnn, i got hacked today. Can't believe they got me,' read the story, which was later shared by the same Twitter account, BallerAlert. 'Yall know i only do jokes about whites and cops. S'all good now i changed my password and everything.'

Che later posted to his Instagram stories, in the same font and white-text-on-black-background style as his previous messages to claim his account had been 'hacked'

The SNL comedian then made a reference to the latest controversy surrounding rapper DaBaby and homophobic comments he has made, adding: 'yall hear about dababy tho..? that's crazy. iight see yall at church. Imma get there early.'

Che's Instagram has since disappeared completely, and it is presumed to have been deactivated.

People were quick to condemn the actions of the former Daily Show correspondent, with the comment about Larry Nassar's sexual assault of Biles drawing particular criticism from people on Twitter.

In response, activist Farrah Khan tweeted: 'Larry Nassar sexually assaulted over 300 gymnasts including Simone Biles. Jokes about this immense violence are never okay. @hbomax @nbcsnl why is Michael Che still on your roster?'

Nassar, seen in court in November 2017, is a former USA Gymnastics doctor was was convicted of abusing hundreds of women and girls in his care and sentenced to 40 - 175 years in prison

Political commentator Ameshia Cross wrote: 'Sexual assault/abuse survivors are not the butt of jokes. Ever. Be mindful #SimoneBiles sexual abuse occurred for years beginning in her childhood. #MichaelChe is a jerk for even touching the issue in this manner. And he's a damn fool for coming back saying he was hacked.' 

'Michael Che comes for people he thinks he can get away with dunking on,' writer Delia Harrington added: 'Trans women, Black women, sexual assault survivors. Judging by his flimsy 'I got hacked' defense, it seems he had no idea how beloved Simone Biles is, or just how messed up it is to share a Larry joke.' 

Activist Leslie Mac added her voice to the criticism, writing: 'Black Women BEEN told you about Michael Che... but once again y'all ignored us. But COMEDY right!? F***** hack.'

Earlier this week, Biles announced that she was withdrawing from two Olympic events and would not be defending her Olympic title, amid ongoing struggles with her mental health, which she has hinted are related to the ongoing trauma of the abuse she endured at the hands of Nassar.

The gymnast broke her silence hours after the news was shared, when she thanked her fans for their 'support and love', noting that her fans have helped her to realize 'she is more than gymnastics'. 

'The outpouring love & support I’ve received has made me realize I’m more than my accomplishments and gymnastics which I never truly believed before,' Biles tweeted on Wednesday night. 

Biles stunned spectators and athletes alike in Tuesday's team final when she flubbed her vault - her first skill - by bailing out of a skill mid-air, completing just one-and-a-half twists instead of the intended two-and-a-half, an error that saw her earn an uncharacteristically low score of just 13.766. 

Moments later, it was announced that she was pulling out of the lineup altogether, leaving her three teammates, Lee, Jordan Chiles, 20, and Grace McCallum, 18, to try and overtake their Russian rivals without her. While the trio of first-time Olympians put on a bold fight - at one point narrowing the gap between themselves and the Russian Olympic Committee to just a few tenths of a point - they ultimately ended up in silver medal position.