ColorOfChange, the civil rights group that urged NBCUniversal to include a black woman in the cast of Saturday Night Live, applauded SNL for announcing that Sasheer Zamata would be joining the venerable "not ready for primetime" players.
"We are delighted by Saturday Night Live's announcement that Sasheer Zamata will be joining the cast as a featured player. Zamata is a talented comedian and we congratulate her on seizing this great opportunity," ColorOfChange executive director Rashad Robinson said in a statement.
The group had shared its concerns with the network, and called the decision to add a black cast member an important step. "We'd like to thank NBCUniversal for hearing our community's concerns," the group said, but added that it would be monitoring the situation to "ensure that she has the support she needs backstage to be successful on screen."
