USA hockey star Quinn Hughes was left ‘visibly uncomfortable’ after being booed during Saturday Night Live rehearsals at the weekend, a source has told Daily Mail.
Along with his brother and teammate Jack, plus women’s champions Hilary Knight and Megan Keller, Hughes appeared on the latest episode of the popular late-night comedy show following America’s double gold-medal victories at the Winter Olympics earlier this month.
Yet following the outrage surrounding Donald Trump and his controversial joke to the men’s team about their female counterparts, the 26-year-old is said to have received a hostile reception from the live audience in New York City.
Trump told USA’s male hockey heroes, who secured a dramatic overtime win over rivals Canada to become champions, that he was also ‘going to have to bring the women’s team’ to Washington or he ‘probably would be impeached’ after they too beat the Canadians to gold in Italy.
Despite the uproar over his remark, the men’s team faced scrutiny for still attending the president’s State of the Union speech last week. The women’s team declined due to prior ‘academic and professional commitments.’
And while carrying out the dress rehearsal without brother Jack, who was playing for the New Jersey Devils at the time, Hughes was brutally jeered by the SNL crowd as a result.
USA hockey star Quinn Hughes (left) was booed while rehearsing for Saturday Night Live
Quinn and brother Jack helped the American men’s team claim gold at the Winter Olympics
An insider told the Daily Mail that the Minnesota Wild defenseman was ‘very loudly booed’ while rehearsing with ‘Heated Rivalry’ star Connor Storrie due to the men’s team’s ‘hurtful’ exchange with Trump.
‘The audience booed very loudly and he looked very visibly uncomfortable,’ the source recalled. ‘I don’t know if it was the entire studio but it was LOUD and sounded plentiful.
‘He didn’t make a face face but you could very clearly tell he looked at the very least uncomfortable.’
They also added about the Trump controversy: ‘I think at least from personal thoughts and feelings that it wasn’t so much the call but how [the team] reacted and how since they really have taken no accountability for what they did was hurtful, especially since a few men on the team have come forward saying they shouldn’t have laughed at Trump’s joke because they do respect the women, their achievements and how hard they work.’
Another source described the reaction as a ‘mixture of light clapping and booing’ when Hughes appeared for the rehearsal.
‘My friend and I ended up being seated on opposite sides of the studio and we both heard booing from each section,’ they said. ‘I personally didn’t participate in either clapping or booing, I was just kind of sitting there with a straight face on, but my friend said she did participate in the booing.
‘The [cheers] when Megan and Hilary came on stage was insane though. The dress rehearsal cheering and clapping was much louder and longer compared to the live show.’
But USA’s male players have received scrutiny over their viral exchange with Donald Trump
The Hughes brothers appeared on SNL alongside women’s stars Hilary Knight (second from right) and Megan Keller (second from left)
While another added: ‘No one really cheered when he came on… some people in my section did boo though!’
An SNL insider has played down the reaction and stressed that audience members are not directed to respond in any certain way.
During the live recording, the Hughes brothers, Knight and Keller all appeared to receive a loud and lengthy ovation during Storrie’s opening monologue.
Knight also made light of Trump’s joke by saying: ‘It was going to be just us, but we thought we’d invite the guys too.’
Last week the women’s captain had a more serious assessment of the controversy, describing the president’s remarks as ‘distasteful and unfortunate.’
A number of the men claimed to have laughed at Trump’s joke while caught up in the moment, before issuing apologies over the viral incident.
During an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, Jack – who scored the winning goal in overtime against Canada – highlighted the strong connection between the men’s and women’s teams while playing down the fallout.
Knight has branded Trump’s joke about the women’s team ‘distasteful and unfortunate’
‘We are hanging out with them so much, the women’s team. We were supporting them. Like, we were at their games, they were at our games,’ he explained.
‘Like all these people talking, how many of them watched their gold medal game? Me and Quinn Hughes were at the game. We were at the game until like overtime ended on the glass, and we were jumping up and down so excited for these girls, so excited they won,’ Hughes added about the men’s team’s critics.
‘And how many of these people watched the gold medal game, watched their semifinals game? Like 10 of our players went to their game in the round-robin.
‘We supported them so much, and we’re so proud of them. We’re so happy that they won, and they brought a gold medal back and that, you know, I said it, the men’s and women’s team both brought gold medals back. So, just unbelievable for USA hockey.’
