Oh, so did the publishers also tell them to make fun of people who weren't happy with JonTron's removal?

From what I heard, it's actually not Playtonic's doing. It's Team 17, their publisher, pushing it on them.

Playtonic is made of everyone who created Banjo Kazooie, and Conker's Bad Fur Day. They are the kings of non-PC humor. These are not the kind of people who would care about such nonsense.