Sarah Sherman only has love for Aimee Lou Wood.
The Saturday Night Live star is finally addressing her controversial impersonation of The White Lotus actress, which received mixed reviews from fans last month.
“I was excited to play her because she’s so iconic, her character is so iconic," Sherman told Vanity Fair in an interview published May 13, "and I f--king obviously never meant to hurt anyone’s feelings. Never in a million years did I get into comedy to make anyone upset. I feel terrible that anyone would feel bad.”
Following SNL's April 12 episode, Wood publicly criticized Sherman's take on her season three character Chelsea, writing on her Instagram Stories the next day, "I did find the SNL thing mean and unfunny."
The Manchester, England native added, “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?”
However, Sherman insisted she wasn't seeking to be mean-spirited when she took on the job of portraying the Sex Education alum on the long-running NBC sketch comedy series.
"The show is in constant dialogue with culture as it’s happening, and it happens really fast," Sherman told the outlet. "You have to be vigilant, you know what I mean?"
"There are a lot of things out of your control," the comedian continued. "You’re playing a lot of different parts, you’re doing a lot of different roles that you’re not in control of. A lot of the process of the show has been, to me—how am I answering this? Staying vigilant but also being a part of the show—that is your job."
Following the controversy, many celebrities came to Wood's defense, with Cara Delevingne writing on Instagram, "@aimeelouwood YOU ARE STUNNING PERIOD."
Meanwhile, Jameela Jamil posted in reference to the 31-year-old's signature smile, "It's the least interesting or memorable thing about this brilliant actor. Our next Olivia Coleman. Hilarious, deep, vulnerable, and relentlessly lovable."
Sherman's SNL costar Bowen Yang came to her defense while also acknowledging how the dental prosthetics Sherman wore in the sketch angered fans.
"However she reacted to that sketch is completely valid," Bowen told Extra in an interview released April 17. "With parody, you kind of forget the sort of human, emotional cost. 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."
Wood later revealed Sherman personally apologized to her by sending her a gift amid the backlash.
In a picture shared to her Instagram Stories April 15, Aimee showcased a bouquet of orange roses and pink carnations and tagged Sherman in her caption, writing, “Thank you for the beautiful flowers.”
Now that the feud has officially been quashed, keep reading for everything we know (so far) about The White Lotus season four.
When will the fourth season of The White Lotus premiere?
HBO officially renewed The White Lotus for a fourth season in January, weeks before the third season premiered and after series creator Mike White pitched ideas for another go-round of moneyed murder and mayhem.
"Mike, obviously—if he wants to move forward and do the four seasons—he will do the fourth season," HBO CEO Casey Bloys told reporters in November.
Production on season four will likely kick off in 2026, according to Variety.
Where will The White Lotus' fourth season take place?
Though there have been reports that the fourth season is heading to France, White and fellow producers haven't yet confirmed their season four destination themselves. But they've been dropping hints.
"We're going on some locations scouting in the next couple of weeks, so we'll know soon," executive vice president of HBO Programming Francesca Orsi told Deadline in February. "I can’t really say where we’re going to land but chances are somewhere in Europe."
Chances, she emphasized.
There are "some countries on the map that we talked about," Orsi added, "but nothing to report on until they actually go locations scouting."
White said in an interview for HBO that ran after the April 6 season three finale that he was looking to "get a little bit out of the 'crashing waves against rocks' vernacular" for next season.
"But," he added, "there's always room for more murders at the White Lotus hotels."
White also mentioned Australia as a dream destination while he was in Sydney at the Vivid Festival in June 2023.
“It would be so fun," he said. "Obviously, there’s a huge wealth of talent here and the beauty is inarguable, so it feels like it checks all the boxes.”
Really, the possibilities are endless, almost: A body in the snow has yet to be a plot point on the series, but a fancy ski resort may not be in the cards. Producer David Bernad told The Guardian in February, "Mike doesn't like the cold."
The White Lotus Theme Song May Sound Different in Season 4
Cristóbal Tapia de Veer, the Emmy-winning composer behind the White Lotus title themes, will not be back for season four, citing creative disagreements with White dating back to the show's first season.
"It's kind of weird right now because I announced to the team a few months ago that I was not coming back, that I was leaving," Tapia de Veer told the New York Times in an interview published April 2. "I didn’t tell Mike for various reasons; I wanted to tell him just at the end for the shock and whatever." (White did find out before season's end, he said.)
As for the instantly catchy theme music he wrote for season one (that also opened season two), "You see it afterward, and it’s a success," Tapia de Veer said, "but to get there is quite the struggle" because White "didn't want the theme."
And no one told him to retool the opener for season three, he said, but he did—much to fans' loud consternation.
"When that came out, I had TMZ calling me, even people from England and from France, because they wanted some kind of statement about the theme," Tapia de Veer said. "People are furious about the change of the theme, and I thought that was interesting. I texted the producer and I told him that it would be great to, at some point, give them the longer version with the ooh-loo-loo-loos, because people will explode if they realize that it was going there anyway. He thought it was a good idea. But then Mike cut that—he wasn’t happy about that."
The composer added, "I mean, at that point, we already had our last fight forever, I think. So he was just saying no to anything."
On The Howard Stern Show April 8, White called it a "b--ch" move" for Tapia de Veer to air his grievances like that.
"I honestly don't know what happened," White said, "except now I'm reading his interviews because he decides to do some PR campaign about him leaving the show. I just don't think he respected me."
They "never really even fought," the producer continued. "He says we feuded...It was basically me giving him notes."
Their collaboration "did work" during the first two seasons, White said, because they shared ideas. By season three, Tapia de Veer "didn't want to go through the process with me, he didn't want to get notes from me, he didn't want to go to sessions."
And, White added, "He's definitely making a big deal out of just a creative difference."
Will Gary Return for Season 4 of The White Lotus?
White was pleasantly shocked that Jon Gries, who played Tanya's mysterious suitor Greg in season one and her calculating husband in season two, agreed to come back to play nefarious widower Gary in season three. But Gries said Gary's (a.k.a. Greg's) ship has sailed, as far as he knows.
However, that's what he thought last time.
"I don’t think [I'm coming back], but I don’t know so," he told The Hollywood Reporter after season three ended with Gary's secret safe for now. "All I can say is, every time I leave, I assume it’s over."
And yet despite the appeal of having all new guests at each resort—"I can burn down the house at the end of every season," White told The New Yorker, "and start building again”—the show has proved that, if you aren't dead...
"There’s no trying to predict anything Mike White does," Gries admitted to THR. "I never presumed I’d be in season two. Same for season three. Everything he does has an element of surprise to it. Yes, I would love to come back. But does the book on Greg seem like it’s complete? I can’t tell you."
Will The White Lotus Find Some Way for Tanya to Come Back?
Short of a White Lotus prequel or multiverse situation, there's really no vehicle for Jennifer Coolidge's Tanya to return except in a flashback or dream sequence. But the hope has remained ever since her unfortunate tumble from a yacht in the season two finale that revealed her to be the premiere's mystery body after being the only returning character from season one.
White has admitted to missing Coolidge's presence, but hasn't questioned his decision to kill off the well-intentioned but gullible and obscenely wealthy Tanya.
"He sort of sticks to his guns," Coolidge said of White on E! News in January 2023 after the season two finale. "He's an amazing friend, but I think he made his decision. He wanted a big, dramatic, Italian, you know, operatic ending for White Lotus 2, and he wanted to sacrifice Tanya."
Confirming she definitely wouldn't be showing up in Thailand for season three, she told The New Yorker, "I don't think Tanya's ever coming back, so I have to live with it."
(E! and SNL are both part of the NBCUniversal family)