Colin Farrell got the last laugh at the Oscars on Sunday night, March 12 after he and his co-star Brendan Gleeson were portrayed in a Saturday Night Live skit the night earlier.
Colin Farrell was played by Mikey Day and Brendan Gleeson was played by Molly Kearny in the cold open of the March 11 episode, which aired the night before the 95th Oscars where "The Banshees of Inisherin" had nine nominations.
In the skit, Farrell and Gleeson were asked about their film's chances at the Oscars. However, neither actor could be understood, with both actors speaking with unintelligible Irish accents and frequently speaking over one another.
"Wow. They haven't even started drinking yet," one of the hosts remarked as the sketch came to an end.
All the stars are out at the Oscars pic.twitter.com/BHKygkLJPW
— Saturday Night Live - SNL (@nbcsnl) March 12, 2023
The SNL clip, which aired in the same season that Gleeson hosted the long-running show and featured a surprise appearance by Farrell, has been slammed as tone-deaf and "deeply offensive," with Twitter users pointing to the fact that it uses tired Irish stereotypes that are "not funny."
"When portraying old and tired cultural stereotypes it helps if you’re actually funny," Irish American actor Roger Clark wrote.
"What the absolute f*ck is this??" said famous Irish drag queen Panti Bliss.
Actor and presenter Karl Dawson remarked that Ireland still had to deal with offensive stereotypes despite receiving a record number of nominations at the Oscars: "25% of all actors nominated this year are Irish, 14 Oscar nominations and the first ever nomination for a film of Irish language, and we STILL have to deal with these stereotypes. So unfunny."
"Derry Girls" writer Lisa McGee also criticized SNL for the skit: "Yes, this (is) fine)," McGee said in a tweet accompanied by a faceplant emoji.
Many Twitter users pointed out that the sketch was particularly tasteless given that Colin Farrell has been sober since 2006.
However, Farrell got the last laugh at the Oscars on Sunday night during a bit where Jimmy Kimmel shared 'questions from fans' with some of the attendees.
Speaking to Farrell, Kimmel said a fan wrote in: "Colin, I loved your performance in 'The Banshees of Inisherin.' My question is, what were you saying in the movie?"
Farrell, donning an Irish tricolor pin, replied: "I'd like him to go on YouTube and check out SNL last night and he'll have a good idea."
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