Whitney Cummings Says An Intern Reported Her To HR For Saying ‘Merry Christmas’

Whitney Cummings presumably won’t be wishing anyone a merry Christmas this year.

During an appearance on “Conan” Wednesday, the comedian claimed that last year, when she was working on an unspecified television show, she uttered a single “merry Christmas” and was reprimanded months later by the show’s human resources department.

“Last year ― I was working on a TV show ― [and I] got in trouble with human resources for saying ‘merry Christmas’ to an intern,” Cummings told host Conan O’Brien.

“I was leaving, like on the 18th … and I was like, ‘Bye, guys. Merry Christmas.’ Like just a formality, what you would say,” she went on. “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.’”

Although Cummings said she meant it more as a “formality” than anything else, O’Brien argued that “in these times we’re in, that could trigger someone or offend them if it’s not their holiday.”

Cummings agreed, and said that she asked HR what she could’ve said instead.

“That’s why I said, ‘Well, what should I have said? Do they celebrate something else?’” Cummings said. “And they were like, ‘Well, no, they’re agnostic.’ And I was like, ‘No, no, no, no, no. You do not get to do that.’”

The former “Roseanne” showrunner added that “had I known that this person was agnostic, that would mean we were in a relationship, like ― that would mean we were intimately connected.”

“I should not know who believes in God and who doesn’t,” she continued. “I also can’t guess either, you know? I can’t, like, guess your holiday based on what you look like. That’s offensive ― that’s very offensive.”

Before anyone jumps to the conclusion that there’s a “war on Christmas,” a 2017 HuffPost/YouGov survey found that in terms of seasonal greetings, 55% of Americans preferred “merry Christmas” while 11% preferred “happy holidays.” And only 11% of people said they’d be offended if they were wished something other than their preferred greeting.