Celebrities

Why did White Lotus star Aimee Lou Wood call SNL 'mean and unfunny'?

Aimee Lou Wood urges fans to avoid copying gap in her teeth
The Jonathan Ross Show, ITV

Aimee Lou Wood has called out SNL for being "mean and unfunny" over the comedy show's depiction of her in its White Lotus political satire sketch - 'The White Potus'.

The skit has sparked a lot of discussion online, as social media users agreed with Aimee and weren't impressed with the parody portrayed by SNL cast member Sarah Sherman.

Here is everything you need to know about the controversy:

What was the sketch?

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

In the skit that aired on Saturday night (April 12), viewers saw Donald Trump (played by James Austin Johnson) on vacation at the luxury resort but was having trouble unwinding as he was secretly freaking out over America's economic health.

It's a parody of Jason Isaac’s character Timothy Ratliff in the latest season of The White Lotus, where he thinks about killing all of his family while on holiday in Thailand as they face financial ruin, with Chloe Fineman channelling Parker Posey’s Victoria Ratliff as Melania Trump - Victoria’s iconic Southern accent included.

While host Jon Hamm parodied Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as Walton Goggins' White Lotus character Rick, who shared his idea to take fluoride out of drinking water.

"What would that do to people's teeth?" he asked.

He appeared alongside Wood’s character, Chelsea, played by Sarah Sherman in the sketch, who put on an interesting British accent and sported exaggerated prosthetic teeth to mock Wood's appearance.

“Fluoride, what’s that? Oh look, a monkey!” Sherman responded.

What was Aimee's reaction?

Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images and NBC

Taking to her Instagram Story, Aimee posted a selfie and wrote how she found the sketch "mean and unfunny."

In another post, she added: "On a positive note everyone is agreeing with me about it so I'm glad I said something instead of going in on myself."

Later on, Aimee shared how she's received "thousands of messages" in agreement with her.

The actor added that it was "such a shame" in a third post as she had "great time" watching the show a couple weeks ago.

“Yes, take the piss for sure – that’s what the show is about – but there must be a cleverer, more nuanced, less cheap way?”

Has SNL responded?

Saturday Night Live hasn't posted a statement about the controversy but Aimee did update her followers to say that the show did reach out to her to apologise.

"I've had apologies from SNL," she wrote via Instagram Story.

Aimee's final comments

Aimee then made her "final comment on the matter."

"I am not thin skinned," she explained. "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 what SNL is."

She elaborated that the skit was "punching up" while "I/Chelsea was the only one punched down on."

To conclude, Aimee also told her followers that it is not Sarah Sherman's fault and that she was "not hating on her, hating on the concept."

Elsewhere, White Lotus star Aimee Lou Wood reveals the one reason she's 'anti-botox', and White Lotus star Aimee Lou Wood praises 'full circle moment' after being bullied over her teeth.

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