Bowen Yang responds to Aimee Lou Wood’s reaction to White Lotus ‘SNL’ parody

Bowen Yang is standing firmly behind Aimee Lou Wood after she voiced her disappointment over a recent Saturday Night Live parody. 

The White Lotus actress had called out the April 12 sketch titled The White POTUS, where SNL cast member Sarah Sherman portrayed a parody of her character Chelsea—complete with an exaggerated dental prosthetic. 

For Wood, who has previously opened up about being bullied over her teeth, the bit crossed a line. She later shared on Instagram Stories that she found the depiction "mean and unfunny."

Now Bowen is backing her up, telling Extra in a chat released April 17, "However she reacted to that sketch is completely valid. With parody, you kind of forget the sort of human, emotional cost." 

His words were refreshingly real, as he continued, "I feel like it's this thing that we tend to forget sometimes, and this is a reminder, and it seems like she has spoken to people at the show about it and hopefully, there's room to sort of move on from it."

Bowen didn’t stop there, acknowledging that even comedians need a reality check sometimes. 

"You need those reminders every now and then, that parody can go far sometimes," he said. 

"We as comedians can take account for that instead of banging our foot and saying that we should be allowed to say whatever we want. Because that's just culture. It's not PC or woke culture, it's just culture."

Despite the awkward moment, Bowen made it clear that everyone at SNL has nothing but admiration for Aimee and The White Lotus magic. 

"We just think that she should be so proud of the work that she put into this season. It was just water cooler television again, that we desperately have a craving for," he added.

As for Aimee, she’s already shared that she’s received apologies from SNL, along with a sweet floral gesture from Sarah Sherman herself. 

Posting a photo of a bouquet filled with orange roses and pink carnations on her Instagram Stories April 15, she tagged Sarah and wrote, "Thank you for the beautiful flowers."

It’s nice to see a little heart and humour making its way through a tough moment — and even better when it’s wrapped in roses.