Why Leslie Jones’s Hacking Bit on ‘Saturday Night Live’ Had Castmate Cecily Strong Feeling All the Emotions

Leslie Jones went through a lot over the summer as hateful Twitter trolls first caused her to flee the Internet, then supporters (and a talk with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey) persuaded her to return. Next she had to deal with hackers releasing nude photos of her online. Through it all, she maintained that in-your-face but good-natured sense of humor that her fans adore. She did it again in spectacular form on Saturday Night Live over the weekend, and Jones’s execution left castmate Cecily Strong singing her praises.

Strong, 32, has been on SNL for four years and is best known for a recurring character — The Girl You Wish You Hadn’t Started a Conversation With at a Party — and as one of the hosts of “The Girlfriends Talk Show.” But it was Jones’s ability to take a humorous yet empowering stand on the hacking phenomenon that caused Strong to post on Instagram in support and awe of her 49-year-old colleague and friend.

“@lessdogg on update made me laugh and cry and cheer in loud geeky ways. So proud I get to call that amazing person a friend,” Strong wrote alongside a picture of Jones and “Weekend Update” co-anchor (and object of Jones’s onscreen affection) Colin Jost at the iconic desk and backdrop. “I’ve always talked about chasing this Oscar Wilde thing. It’s really difficult for me still to write sketches or jokes or pieces about things that really hurt me or make me so angry. I can’t separate myself enough to make sure it stays funny and doesn’t get preachy or angry. To make sure I stay sharp and funny enough that I end up 100% winning. I’m sure I’m not even explaining this well. But Leslie really did it. And it was great to be standing off to the side watching it happen.”

In the bit with Jost, Jones talked about her experience this year, reclaiming any power her haters may have felt they’d gotten in their attacks. “I was recently hacked myself. Yeah. All they did was release some nude pics of me. Which is nothing because — I don’t know if you all know this about me, but I ain’t shy. … I am very comfortable with who I am. I am an open book,” she joked. “I keep my porn in a folder labeled ‘porn.’ If you want to see Leslie Jones naked, just ask. [Looks around to see if anyone will ask.] Just. Ask.

“What I’m trying to say is, if you want to hurt anybody these days, you’re gonna have to do way more than leak their nudes or call them names. You can’t embarrass me more than I have embarrassed myself. I know all the details — ’cause I was there. I was there in third grade when I told this boy named Johnny that I liked him and he hit me in the back of the head with a rock. I was there when I had a fake wedding with El DeBarge in my bedroom. I was there when Prince was walking toward me, smiling, all happy to see me until he realized that I was not Chris Rock. … In the dark we look alike. High-top fade, teeth.

“Anyway, Colin, do you think some words on the Internet can hurt me? I once had a crazy b**** try to beat me with a shovel at a bus stop because I took her spot on the bench. Now that’s a troll! Real trolls ain’t tapping on keyboards; they swingin’ shovels! OK? And if I was good at computers, I wouldn’t waste it trolling on people, I would do something useful, like renew my drivers’ license from home. I would hack into Tinder and delete all those other girls’ profiles so no matter where you swipe, you get me. You in Missouri? You’re gonna get me. You in the middle of the ocean? You gonna get me. Actually, if I were that good with computers, I would build a man. A perfect, masculine, robot man. Okay? Forget about Westworld. I’m talking about Leslie World….

“I have spent decades getting roasted by comedians — black comedians at that. The guy that played the crackhead from the movie Friday has a whole hour on my feet. So trust me: At a certain point you stop being embarrassed and start being you. And I have been me for 49 years because the only person who can hack me … is me. OK? And my firewall is a crazy b**** with a shovel.”

Check out the video below.

Again, it wasn’t the first time that Jones publicly used humor to touch on the hacks. Last month’s Emmys had a bold and beautiful Jones proclaiming that she took the pics because she “just wanted to feel beautiful” during a bit with the accountants who protected the names of the award winners.

Plus, there were plenty of high points for Jones this year to balance out the low. She was in a high-profile summer movie with the remake of Ghostbusters and scored points for body positivity with her red-carpet collaboration with Christian Siriano. She attended the Summer Olympics in Brazil courtesy of NBC, thanks to her enthusiastic live-tweeting of the games. And she slayed all day on her 49th birthday. Strong is definitely not the only one left standing in awe of Jones these days.