SNL cut Harvey Weinstein jokes at last minute

Given Saturday Night Live's quick turnaround time, many expected the latest episode of NBC's late-night comedy variety show to feature some jokes about mega-film producer Harvey Weinstein, who multiple women have accused of sexual harassment. However, that was not the case this weekend: The Gal Gadot-hosted installment didn't feature any punchlines about the Hollywood mogul's fall from grace. But it almost did.

According to a New York Times report, the show prepared jokes about Weinstein, but they ended up not making it to air. An anonymous source who was "familiar with how Saturday's episode was prepared" told the publication that the jokes referencing Weinstein's scandal would have appeared in a sketch and in the Weekend Update segment, but they were cut because the dress rehearsal audience seemed to not respond to the material.

SNL creator Lorne Michaels didn't give a comment to the Times, but he did address the omission when a Daily Mail videographer asked him about it as he was leaving the after party early Sunday morning. "It's a New York thing," Michaels said in the Daily Mail's video.

In the wake of the Times' exposé, which chronicled decades of allegations against the producer, Weinstein was fired from the Weinstein Co. on Sunday. Last week, he released a statement to the Times apologizing for his behavior. "I came of age in the '60s and '70s, when all the rules about behavior and workplaces were different. That was the culture then. I have since learned it's not an excuse, in the office — or out of it. To anyone," he said.

On Sunday, Last Week Tonight host John Oliver became the first late-night show to address the scandal on air, calling Weinstein's statement "infuriating." "Yeah, you're right: Your excuse isn't an excuse. In fact, it isn't even an excuse for that behavior in the '60s. 'Well, back then we had no idea that women didn't want to be forced to look at d—ks! That wasn't discovered by scientists until 1998. It was a different time,'" said Oliver.

NBC didn't immediately respond to EW's request for comment.