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Samantha Bee & Adam Rippon Host 'Christmas on I.C.E.' Holiday Special

Samantha Bee & Adam Rippon Host 'Christmas on I.C.E.' Holiday Special

Samantha Bee & Adam Rippon Host 'Christmas on I.C.E.' Holiday Special

The charity show for immigrant families also featured cameos from Jonathan Van Ness and Nico Santos.

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Hosting a cheery holiday special about the grim reality of refugee families separated at the Mexican border by the Trump Administration is no easy task, but comedian Samantha Bee made it happen. 

"The world is dark, but tonight we are going to bukakke it with joy," she announced at the start of Full Frontal's "Christmas on I.C.E." special. "Your hearts are going to swell with good will towards your fellow humans if it is the last fucking thing I do."

During the half-hour show raising funds for Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), Full Frontal recruited Olympian Adam Rippon and figure skaters from Ice Theatre of New York for a segment called I.C.E. on Ice, "the only guide to fighting the excesses of Immigration and Customs Enforcement that's also an ice show!"

Rippon and Bee provided Scott Hamilton-style commentary while the skaters were chased around the rink by an I.C.E. agent "represented by the worst person you encounter on the ice, a hockey douche," played by Bee's husband and fellow ex-Daily Show correspondent Jason Jones.

"Why aren't you out there skating with them, Sam?" Rippon asked at one point.

"I don't know, Adam," she replied. "Why are you such a nosy jerk?"

The skit reminded viewers that they don't have to let I.C.E. agents into their homes unless they have identification and a signed warrant, and encouraged them to publicize I.C.E. activity on social media. ("Beautiful extension on those tweet hands!" Rippon said.)

Bee encouraged people to organize their communities not to cooperate with I.C.E., "almost as important as wearing sequins when you're ice skating!"

"That's right, Sam," Rippon said. "My entire life's work comes down to sequins and rhinestones, you basic cable nightmare."

Full Frontal's holiday special also featured a spoof of the 1986 charity song "We Are the World," featuring comedy faves like Jon Stewart, Molly Ringwald, Patton Oswalt and Olivia Munn—though we were more excited about cameos from Crazy Rich Asians star Nico Santos and Queer Eye's Jonathan Van Ness.

In addition to raising funds through donations and merchandise sales, Full Frontal gave a six-bedroom house to a charity organization in Lumpkin, Georgia, home to one of the country's largest immigration detention centers, so family members of detained refugees would have a place to stay.

"If you are not doing your best to show compassion for the poor, the weak, the sick, and yes, the immigrants, then you are doing Christmas wrong," Bee declared to her conservative critics. "I don't care what the hell is on your Starbucks cup! Jesus loves me and hates Fox News!"

You can watch the full half-hour special on Full Frontal's YouTube channel.

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Christine Linnell