Alleged assault by Flyers mascot Gritty hits ‘SNL’

"He’s more of a ‘leap out of the shadows and stick you with a syringe’ kind of guy, you know?” Colin Jost joked in a Weekend Update segment.

Gritty's eyes light up from a projector overhead as he makes a special appearance at a panel called "The Brains Behind Gritty" at Philly Tech Week in Center City in May.Read moreHEATHER KHALIFA / Staff Photographer

by Nick Vadala

Published Jan. 27, 2020, 9:50 a.m. ET

Flyers mascot Gritty is under investigation by Philadelphia police over an allegation that he punched a 13-year-old boy in the back — a claim that Saturday Night Live’s Colin Jost doesn’t buy, exactly.

“I just can’t picture Gritty doing something like that. I mean, look at him — he wouldn’t punch a kid in the back,” Jost joked in a segment on SNL’s “Weekend Update” on Saturday. “He’s more of a ‘leap out of the shadows and stick you with a syringe’ kind of guy, you know?”

Gritty came under fire last week after news of the mascot’s alleged assault on 13-year-old Brandon Greenwell, of Newark, Del., spread online. Greenwell’s father, Chris, 46, filed a complaint with Philadelphia police on Dec. 21, claiming that Gritty punched his son during a November meet-and-greet with the googly-eyed mascot.

As the elder Greenwell told the Inquirer last week, Brandon “playfully patted” the mascot on the head following a photo op, after which Gritty allegedly “took a running start” and punched his son in the back.

Comcast Spectacor, which owns the Flyers, told Greenwell that there was no video footage of the incident proving Gritty struck the boy, the Inquirer has previously reported. A Flyers spokesperson indicated that the organization “took Mr. Greenwell’s allegations seriously and conducted a thorough investigation” into the incident, but “found nothing to support this claim.”

Greenwell said he was planning on dumping his Flyers season tickets after 22 years. The investigation into the claim is “active and on-going,” police said last week.

News of the alleged assault came as Democrats pressed their case to the Senate regarding the impeachment of President Donald Trump. However, as Stephen Colbert lamented on The Late Show last week, two other topics topped that news online: The “death” of Mr. Peanut, and Gritty.

“We’re doomed,” Colbert said.

Jost, meanwhile, was spotted in Philly earlier this month alongside fiancée Scarlett Johansson. The pair attended the wedding of SNL producer Erin Doyle at the Crystal Tea Room, and were later spotted out around town.