When does a parody seemingly go too far? When hours after the parody gets exposure the target of the parody speaks out against it — and gets an apology from the people doing the parody.
And so it went with NBC’s Saturday Night Live. The 50-year-old comedy show did an ornate parody of the smash streaming hit The White Lotus. Except this time it centered on Donald Trump and his family and associates and was titled The White POTUS. It could be expected that in the politically polarized early 21st century laughs and anger would split along party lines. But this time it was something different: there was outrage over SNL mocking a woman’s looks.
White Lotus third season actress Aimee Lou Wood was the parody target, felt the exaggerated spoof of her teeth was a cheap and hurtful shot, and let her feelings be known online — and then reportedly got an apology from snl.
British actress Aimee Lou Wood, star of ‘The White Lotus’ Season 3, publicly condemned ‘Saturday Night Live’ (SNL) for a parody she called “mean and unfunny.” The sketch, entitled ‘The White POTUS,’ aired on April 12 and had Sarah Sherman imitating Wood’s character, Chelsea, with prosthetic, exaggerated teeth and a caricature Manchester accent. The parody created outrage among Wood and her fans, prompting the NBC comedy show to apologize.
The scandalous sketch recast Mike White’s hit HBO series by swapping its characters for political leaders, including Donald Trump and his circle. James Austin Johnson played Trump, while Chloe Fineman appeared as Melania Trump with a Southern accent inspired by Victoria Ratliff from the series. Jon Hamm, the guest host of the show, played Robert F. Kennedy Jr., speaking lines on fluoride removal and strange concepts. Sherman’s appearance as Chelsea was remarkable for its over-the-top qualities and minimal lines, including: “Fluoride? What’s that?
Wood turned to Instagram on Sunday to vent her displeasure. In a series of tweets, she posted: “In all honesty, I found the SNL sketch to be cruel and unfunny.” She said, “It’s disappointing because I did enjoy watching the show a couple of weeks ago. Of course, humor can be sharp—that’s what the show is all about—but surely there are wittier, more clever, and less shallow ways of doing it?” The 31-year-old actress also expressed displeasure with Sherman’s accent in the sketch: “At least get the accent right, seriously. I value precision, even if it’s unkind,” she said in a laughing emoji. Speaking about the attention on her character’s dental look, Wood said: “I have big gap teeth, not bad teeth.”.
The whole joke was about fluoride.” She also added that although most of the sketch “punched up” at politicians, her character was the sole one that experienced “punching down.”
In spite of her rant, Wood explained that her annoyance was aimed at the idea and not Sherman herself. “Not Sarah Squirm’s fault and not hating on her. Hating on the concept,” she wrote.
Wood reported that she had been apologized to by SNL but did not disclose who contacted her. “I’ve had apologies from SNL,” she posted in a subsequent Instagram Story with a mischievous filter. She later said she was relieved she came forward: “I’m glad many feel the same way. I’m happy I spoke out rather than biting my tongue.”
Indeed, comedy constantly evolves and what’s hilarious in one comedy era may fall flat or be taboo in another. During World War II cartoons depicted Japanese people as having big teeth. Jerry Lewis put on big fake teeth early in his career but the more time went on the more it was considered unfunny and racist. The era of mother-in-law jokes is over. Jokes, cartoons and memes about fat overweight people can spark outrage and charges of “fat shaming.”
In this case, the joke was about fluoride and to get a laugh SNL parodied her teeth which, in a fast-moving parody can get a laugh, but it was making fun of her looks. Meanwhile, one issue is whether apologies should be offered for parodies. Mad Magazine did brutal depictions of actors and politicians for years. But that was then — not 2025.
Was that part of the parody essential to the White Lotus parody? Was it truly offensive? Watch it and judge for yourself:
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.