Aimee Lou Wood revealed that Saturday Night Live has issued an apology to her following an ‘unfunny’ skit that poked fun at her teeth. The skit, titled ‘The White Potus’, featured Wood’s character Chelsea from the third season of The White Lotus. In this five-minute sketch, which played on the acronym POTUS (President of the United States), Chelsea was the sole character depicted outside of President Donald Trump’s circle.
Sarah Sherman, an SNL cast member, portrayed the 31-year-old actress by wearing exaggerated prosthetic teeth to mock Wood’s dental appearance, while also attempting a Mancunian accent.
Wood expressed her thoughts about the sketch on Instagram, labeling it ‘mean and unfunny’. She later provided an update stating that SNL had apologized to her.
In her Instagram story, she mentioned: “I’ve had apologies from SNL.” Prior to this, Wood clarifed that HBO was not at fault, and urged people to ‘leave them alone’, pointing out that SNL was responsible.
Wood further commented: “On a positive note, everyone is agreeing with me about it, so I’m glad I said something instead of going in on myself.” She expressed disappointment, explaining that she had enjoyed the show previously but felt the sketch lacked cleverness and nuance.
“Last thing I’ll say on the matter. I am not thin-skinned. I actually love being taken the p*ss 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… Okay end of.”
Wood also noted she had no personal issue with Sherman but criticized the concept of the sketch.
Support for the Sex Education star appeared quickly online. One individual commented: “I agree – everyone else in that parody was a political figure who was being mocked. The only character who wasn’t political was Chelsea, and they were clearly just taking the piss out of your appearance/accent, which is extremely c*nty and uncalled for! Sending you a big hug xxx.”
Another fan expressed similar feelings: “Don’t delete it. It was mean and unfunny and saying it out loud removes their power. You’re unreal in every way. I have a big gap in my teeth and an overbite, and you’ve genuinely made me feel so much better about myself. I was going to spend thousands on fixing it all which I’m just not doing now because I look at you and think how gorgeous you look so why not try and apply that logic to myself. So much love to you, Aimee x.”