Aaron Sorkin, 65, drew more attention for his complexion than his screenplay at a London gala this week.
The Oscar-winning screenwriter joined stars Mikey Madison and Jeremy Allen White for a Sony Pictures UK-hosted screening of his latest film, “The Social Reckoning,” on Tuesday. Social media users quickly swarmed the studio’s Instagram post from the event, transforming the comments section into a roast of Sorkin’s deeply bronzed appearance.
“He did not have to hit the beach that hard,” one user joked on the post.
Another commenter offered a pun that gained traction among the pile-on: “Aaron Sorkin? More like Aaron Sore Skin from all the tanning, am I right?”
The mockery continued with increasingly elaborate comparisons. “Bro went in the tanning booth and turned it up to George Hamilton,” a third person wrote, referencing the famously perennially tanned actor. Someone else quipped, “I asked for my Sorkin medium rare,” while another playfully rechristened him “Aaron Scorchin.”
Sorkin was not the only target of the comments section’s creative energy, as users described his tan as “absurd,” “extra crispy” and even “a hate crime.”
The incident places Sorkin in a long line of celebrities whose tanning choices have become public fodder. Jennifer Aniston, Chrissy Teigen and Brooklyn Decker have all shared their own spray tan fails on social media. Blake Lively and Christina Aguilera’s past bronzing blunders have also made headlines.
Selena Gomez experienced one of the most widely discussed tanning mishaps in recent red-carpet history at the 2018 Met Gala, where her complexion appeared strikingly orange. She later addressed the episode in a 2021 Vogue video, recounting how the situation deteriorated over the course of the evening.
“[I] put on some of this tanning lotion and it looked really beautiful and very even,” Gomez recalled. “As the evening kept going on it was getting a little darker and darker.”
At one point during the video, Gomez looked at a photo of herself and realized she appeared “completely orange.”
“I was like, ‘This is going to be terrible because I’m going to get eaten alive about this,'” she said.
Gomez eventually reclaimed the narrative by posting a video of herself fleeing the museum with the caption, “Me when I saw my pictures from MET.”
The London screening marked a promotional stop for “The Social Reckoning,” Sorkin’s latest project as screenwriter. Madison and White, both currently riding waves of critical acclaim, accompanied him at the event.
Sorkin has not publicly responded to the commentary about his appearance.
The writer-director is best known for “The West Wing,” “The Social Network” and “A Few Good Men,” and won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay in 2011. His stage and screen work has long generated its own controversies, though rarely of the dermatological variety.
Sorkin’s film “The Social Reckoning” examines the human cost of social media platforms, a theme that carries some irony given how quickly the Instagram post documenting the event became a vehicle for public mockery.
White, 34, recently won consecutive Emmy Awards for his role in “The Bear,” while Madison, 25, earned an Oscar for Best Actress earlier this year for her performance in “Anora.”
The trio are expected to continue promotional appearances for the film in the coming weeks.