Actor Chris Burke, who has Down syndrome, defended comedian Shane Gillis on Monday after he made a joke about people with Down syndrome on Saturday Night Live.
Burke appeared on the sitcom Life Goes On in the late 1980s and 1990s, and his defense of Gillis is very moving. Gillis hosts “SNL” and joke It’s a movie about a niece who has Down syndrome, but it’s actually pretty tame humor that pokes fun at people who don’t understand Down syndrome, not people who were born with it.he has similar routine Except in his special “Beautiful Dog” he mentions that his uncle Danny has Down syndrome.
“People with Down syndrome are just like anyone else and should not be excluded from jokes by comedians,” Burke said. according to To TMZ. He even claimed that it would be more offensive for comedians to exclude people with Down syndrome from their jokes.
Burke went on to plead with people not to pass judgment on Gillis, who has a family member with Down syndrome, because “nobody knows how he has coped and coped.” Apparently, the actor feels Gillis isn’t making these jokes out of ignorance. That’s kind of what Burke is here for. (Related: Shane Gillis signs with Netflix for comedy series ‘Tires’)
He claimed that if Gillis hadn’t made the joke, the conversation about Down syndrome wouldn’t have happened at all. His work helps show others that people living with Down syndrome are normal people who can experience anything in life, including being the butt of jokes.
