The White Lotus
HBO
SNL is known for skewering any popular piece of pop culture in a given moment, and most recently, that included The White Lotus. That was during a skit this past weekend called “The White Potus,” blending the just-ended series with the political climate.
It has the Ratliff family as the Trumps, with Scarlett Johansson as a Piper-equivalent Ivanka and actual Greg, Jon Gries, making an appearance. The issue was when Sarah Sherman showed up as Chelsea, played by Aimee Lou Wood on The White Lotus. There was no political parody there, they just made an uglified version of the not-ugly actress, with super pronounced teeth, a trademark of hers. But it was just in a way that felt…rude, simply making of her appearance with nothing else past that.
That elicited a response from Aimee Lou Wood herself about the portrayal, saying it made her sad:
“I did find it mean and unfunny… such a shame cuz I had such a great time watching it a couple weeks ago. Yes, take the piss for sure — that’s what the show is about- but there must be a cleverer, less cheap way?”
The White Lotus
HBO
She went on to later say that she received “thousands of messages” of support and said “On a positive note, everyone is agreeing with me about it so I’m glad I said something instead of going in on myself.”
The reaction from both the actress and the public caused SNL to issue a rare apology to Wood, which she relayed on Instagram, though the apology was not made publicly, and the skit is still online with 3.3 million YouTube views since yesterday, in addition to however many it got during the live airing. It’s especially awful because of a recent interview that Wood gave about her insecurities when getting the role.
“Someone told me how much Mike had fought for me,” she told GQ Hype. “They said ‘it had to be you, no matter what HBO said… “My little head goes: ‘HBO didn’t want me. And I know why HBO didn’t want me, it’s because I’m ugly. Mike had to say ‘Please let me have the ugly girl!’ That was the thing that was in my head.”
She later clarified that was not at all what HBO meant, so no one should attack them (I wonder if she was simply a lower profile actress than the huge stars?). But yes, in a rare showing of internet solidarity, everyone came together to support her both after that interview, and now after the SNL sketch. Her signature smile has also been praised in an era of endless, same-y veneers. And of course, she is the furthest thing from ugly.
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