Aimee Lou Wood slams ‘SNL’ sketch mocking her appearance
“White Lotus” star Aimee Lou Wood has called out “Saturday Night Live” for a sketch that aired in a recent episode, calling it “mean and unfunny.”
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Bowen Yang says a recent “Saturday Night Live” sketch that poked fun at Aimee Lou Wood is an example of how parody can go too far.
In an interview with Extra, the comedian, 34, weighed in after Wood slammed a “White Lotus” spoof on “SNL” that included a joke about the gap between her teeth. The actress described the sketch as “mean and unfunny.”
“However she reacted to that sketch is completely valid,” Yang told Extra. “With parody, you kind of forget the human, emotional cost” that humor takes on the subject.
The “Wicked” star added that “everyone at ‘SNL’ ” is a fan of Wood, noting the situation is a reminder “that parody can go (too) far sometimes and that we as comedians can take account for that, instead of banging our foot and saying that we should be allowed to say whatever we want.”
The “SNL” sketch, which aired April 12, imagined Season 3 of “The White Lotus” starring President Donald Trump and his allies. Host Jon Hamm played Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who said he wanted to remove fluoride from drinking water and asked, “What would that do to people’s teeth?” The show then cut to Sarah Sherman, who wore fake teeth to play Wood’s “White Lotus” character, Chelsea.
In a series of Instagram posts, Wood, 31, said she thought the sketch was “mean and unfunny” and wrote, “I am not thin skinned. I actually love being taken the piss out of when it’s clever and in good spirits. But the joke was about fluoride. I have big gap teeth not bad teeth. I don’t mind caricature – I understand that’s what SNL is. But the rest of the skit was punching up and I/Chelsea was the only one punched down on.”
In other posts on Instagram, Wood said there “must be a cleverer, more nuanced, less cheap way” to make fun of her and criticized the accent Sherman used in the sketch. “At least get the accent right seriously,” she wrote. “I respect accuracy even if it’s mean.”
But Wood, who previously told GQ she was unhappy with the amount of attention that has been paid to her teeth, clarified that she was “not hating on” Sherman and was just “hating on the concept.” She later revealed that Sherman sent her a “beautiful” bouquet of flowers.
Wood also said in a previous Instagram post that she “had apologies from ‘SNL,’ ” though she didn’t provide details. Yang told Extra that Wood seems to have “spoken to people at the show” about the sketch.
“SNL” has not returned for a new episode since the controversial sketch aired. The show will be back on May 3 with host Quinta Brunson.
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