‘White Lotus’ Star’s Critique of SNL Skit Sparks Comedy Accountability Talk

Aimee Lou Wood, star of "White Lotus," didn’t hold back after a recent "Saturday Night Live" sketch poked fun at her appearance—sparking a wave of conversation about the limits of comedy and the importance of empathy in parody.

Bowen Yang, a standout "SNL" cast member, publicly acknowledged that, yep, sometimes comedians really can go too far. Speaking in an interview, Yang pointed out how easy it is for performers to forget the emotional impact their jokes might have on real people, saying, "You need those reminders every now and then 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, like, we should be allowed to say whatever we want because that’s just the culture."

Earlier this month, "SNL" aired a segment called "The White POTUS"—skewering the Trump administration. Jon Hamm showed up as Robert Kennedy, Jr., but his look borrowed some serious vibes from Walton Goggins’ Ric. Hamm’s line about yanking fluoride from water was peak absurdity: "What if we took all the fluoride out of the drinking water? What would that do to people’s teeth?"

Sarah Sherman took on the role of Chelsea (Wood’s character), donning a brunette wig and a set of teeth that’d make a beaver blush, responding cluelessly, "Fluoride? What’s that?"

Wood was quick to clap back online, calling the skit "mean and unfunny." She wrote candidly, "But whilst in honest mode – I did find the SNL thing mean and unfunny xo. Felt righteous might delete later X." She doubled down, contrasting her positive experiences with HBO and her less-than-thrilled reaction to SNL: "@hbo - kind and supportive and never wronged me so leave them alone, @nbcsnl - mean."

For the record, Wood did mention she received an apology from the show after airing her grievances. She shared behind-the-scenes clips from Mike White’s series and even gave a shoutout to Sarah Sherman for sending her flowers—a classy move in a business where egos can run wild.

Wood summed it up best: she’s all for parody and poking fun—it’s the SNL brand, after all—but wonders if there might be a "cleverer, more nuanced, less cheap way?"