The Internet Turned on Jake Novak — What Happened to Him?

In June of 2022, comedian Jake Novak posted an ill-fated video to TikTok. It was an SNL audition video that went incredibly wrong. He raps throughout the video in, what even he likely agrees is, a cringe-inducing fashion. The viral video drew out tons of negative comments, stitches, and parodies, ranging from annoyed to downright cruel.

After his SNL video went viral, TikTokers found an older video he made about gun violence and the Uvalde, Texas, shooting. According to a GQ interview Jake did later, he didn't mean for it to sound like a joke or an ironic video, but it was hard for commenters to see it as anything else.

Jake tried to let the negative TikTok backlash pass by, but eventually deleted the app after a few weeks when he was faced with especially dark messages.

At the time he posted the SNL video, Jake worked at Disneyland, where he was supposed to keep his composure playing the part of a crew member.

He told GQ, "I was out there doing my job, and there's a crowd of people, and I suddenly had this moment where I see all these cameras ... I felt suddenly so unsafe in this place that had for many years felt like a good place, where the vibes are always nice and everyone's there to have a good time and just smile along and be happy."

Jake said that people would sometimes rush up after his shows at the park, calling his name. He added that the people he worked alongside were helpful in managing the crowds and people who wanted to get up close and personal with him.

Outside of Disneyland, he tried to mask his identity by literally wearing a face mask and doing things like using fake names when he made reservations or signed up for email lists. He essentially didn't get any benefits from posting the SNL video to TikTok, unfortunately. "I was not able to do anything to move my life forward for an entire year," he told GQ.

Public opinion about Jake began to change when videos of him working at Disneyland surfaced. Although he had deleted the TikTok app, his account still existed, and people started calling for him to come back on his SNL video.

He decided to give it another try, and this time it didn't include rap or singing. He faced the camera and said, "You made it very clear that you didn’t want to hear from me anymore, or even for me to exist. And for a long time, I’ve really struggled with how to come back from that."

Jake continues, "What song could I sing that would make you change your mind about me? But I don’t even know if that’s possible at this point, so I’m just going to say what I have to say."

Finally, he jokes, "We’ve been trying to reach you about your car’s extended warranty."

This video had a better reception than the one that set everything in a downward motion, but he said he still deleted his TikTok app after posting it.

At the beginning of 2025, Jake posted another video, saying that he has more ideas to share with his audience, but he's not exactly sure what the best format is to convey them.

There's a spare negative comment, but most of the responses are comedic or positive, supporting Jake and assuring him that he didn't deserve the response he got for simply being earnest.

One person wrote, "Hope your life is going well. You didn't deserve to be put through that nonsense." Another said, "SNL not giving you a cameo is their biggest fumble."