Whitney Cummings Reveals She Was Reported to HR for Saying “Merry Christmas”

When it comes to “the terminology around” the holidays, comedian Whitney Cummings is stumped. On Wednesday, Cummings stopped by Conan to discuss her holiday plans, which hopefully involve minimal run-ins with Human Resources. The comedian revealed that last year, she was reported to H.R. for saying “Merry Christmas” to an intern, who she later learned was “agnostic.” Said Cummings, “I should not know who believes in God and who doesn’t!”

After discussing her least favorite part of the holiday season, shopping — “I re-gift,” she told Conan O’Brien — Cummings turned to the confusing “terminology around all of it.” Continued the writer and comedian, “Last year I was working on a TV show, got in trouble with Human Resources for saying ‘Merry Christmas’ to an intern.”

When O’Brien asked if that story is “true,” she insisted that it is. “I was leaving, like on the 18th or whatever today was, and I was like, ‘Bye guys! Merry Christmas!’ Like just a formality, what you would say,” recalled Cummings. “I come back like June 6th, HR calls me. And they’re like, ‘Hey, we need to talk to you. One of the interns is pissed off that you said ‘Merry Christmas.'”

While Cummings didn’t specify which show she was working on at the time, it’s possible that the incident happened on the set of ABC’s Roseanne reboot. In 2018, Cummings served as a co-showrunner on the short-lived revival series, which was canceled that spring due to Roseanne Barr’s racist tweet about Valerie Jarrett.

“By the way, I don’t even care how your Christmas was,” added Cummings. “It was just a formality; it’s what you say when you leave.” O’Brien agreed, but noted that “in these times we’re in, that could trigger someone or offend them if it’s not their holiday.”

“That’s what I said,” replied Cummings. She recalled that she asked HR if she should have “said something else,” and the rep replied that the intern was “agnostic.”

“I was like, no, no, no, no, no. You do not get to do that,” continued Cummings. “Because had I known that this person was agnostic, that would mean that we were in a relationship. Like that would mean that we were intimately connected. I should not know who believes in God and who doesn’t!” She added that she “can’t guess, either,” as that would make the situation even worse. “I can’t guess your holiday based on what you look like,” said Cummings. “That’s offensive. That’s very offensive.”

Watch Whitney Cummings discuss the “Merry Christmas” brouhaha in the clip above. Her HR story begins at the 4:08 mark.

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