SNL Star Sarah Sherman Breaks Silence After Backlash Over Aimee Lou Wood Skit
Sarah Sherman, the Saturday Night Live cast member who portrayed Aimee Lou Wood’s character in a controversial skit, has finally addressed the backlash following criticism of her performance.
The controversy began after the April 12 episode of SNL, which featured a parody titled The White Potus. The sketch blended HBO’s The White Lotus with American political chaos, casting Jon Hamm as RFK Jr., Chloe Fineman as Melania Trump, and James Austin Johnson as Donald Trump. Sherman took on the role of Chelsea, originally played by Wood in season three of The White Lotus — but it was her exaggerated performance, including oversized prosthetic teeth, that drew intense criticism.
In the sketch, Hamm’s RFK Jr., dressed like Chelsea’s on-screen boyfriend Rick, said: “I’ve been having these insane ideas, like what if we took all the fluoride out of the drinking water? What would that do to people’s teeth?” Sherman’s Chelsea responded, flashing an exaggerated grin: “Fluoride? What’s that?”
The portrayal went viral — but not for the right reasons.
Wood addressed the skit on social media, expressing disappointment. “Such a shame cuz I had such a great time watching it a couple of weeks ago,” she wrote. “Yes, take the p**s for sure — that’s what the show is about — but there must be a cleverer, more nuanced, less cheap way?”
She added that while she’s fine with caricature and satire, the rest of the sketch “punched up,” whereas her character felt like the only one being “punched down on.”
“I’m not thin-skinned,” she said, “I can handle jokes. But this one missed the mark. The joke was about fluoride. I have big gap teeth, not bad teeth. It’s not Sarah’s fault… I’m not hating on her. Just on the concept.”
Believing she had received an apology from Sherman via a DM, Wood shared the message online — only to later delete it after realizing it had come from a parody account, not Sherman’s real handle.
The misunderstanding didn’t last long, however. Sherman sent Wood a real gesture of goodwill: a bouquet of colorful flowers. Wood posted a photo of the flowers on her Instagram Stories, captioned: “Thank you for the beautiful flowers @sarahsquirm.”
Now, Sherman has spoken publicly about the incident in an interview with Vanity Fair.
“I was excited to play her because she’s so iconic — her character is iconic — and I obviously never meant to hurt anyone’s feelings,” she said. “Never in a million years did I get into comedy to upset people. I feel awful that anyone would feel bad.”
She also acknowledged the challenge of creating satire based on real people. “The show is in constant dialogue with culture, and it all happens so fast. You really have to stay vigilant,” she explained. “You play a lot of different roles that you’re not fully in control of. That’s the nature of the show.”
Reflecting on the experience, she added, “A big part of doing SNL is learning how to be both present and careful. That’s the job.”
