‘Like kicking a kitten for no reason’: ‘White Lotus’ star Aimee Lou Wood targeted by ‘mean and unfunny’ SNL joke

You’d think in the year of our lord, 2025, we’d be over making fun of people for their appearance, but apparently SNL didn’t get the memo. Now the sketch comedy show is under fire from fans due to a joke directed at The White Lotus star, Aimee Lou Wood.

On social media fans of the actress called out the skit titled “White Potus,” which saw caricatures of Donald Trump and his cabinet in place of the show’s original characters. While most of the comedy derived from poking fun at the president, the sketch was criticized for punching down, when comedian Sarah Sherman appeared as a caricature of Wood with exaggerated prominent teeth and a British accent.

Aimee Lou Wood appeared in the third season of The White Lotus as Chelsea and she quickly became a fan fave. The actress has also appeared in the popular Netflix shows Sex Education and Toxic Town.

Aimee Lou Wood gives her thoughts

Taking to Instagram the star gave her thoughts on the jokes about her appearance. She started off defending HBO, telling fans nobody at the network called her ugly, and that it was her own “paranoid” thoughts. She clarified that she spiralled after hearing showrunner, Mike White fought for her to be cast but that “HBO have been nothing but super supportive.”

The actress then continued, “But whilst in honest mode – I did find the SNL thing mean and unfunny xo.” That’s a pretty fair assessment if you ask me. Wood continued, writing, “Such a shame cuz I had such a great time watching it a couple years ago. Yes, take the p*** for sure – that’s how the show is – but there must be a cleverer, more nuanced, less cheap way?”

Fans agreed with Aimee

Thankfully Wood wasn’t alone in thinking the jokes were out of order. Many fans agreed and took to social media to call out SNL for the mean-spirited joke. One person on X compared it to “kicking a kitten for no reason.”

Others responded directly to Wood’s Instagram story voicing their support for the actress. One person pointed out that everyone else being mocked was a political figure whereas Chelsea was the only character who wasn’t political and was only mocked for her physical appearance. Wood thanked fans for agreeing with her and admitted that she was glad she had said something after all.

The main issue with the joke was that it just wasn’t funny. Wood, in a later Instagram post, writes that she isn’t “thin-skinned” and that she’s ok with jokes being made about her, but in this case “Chelsea was the only one punched down on.” In another post the actress informs her fans that she’s “had apologies from SNL.”