Colin Farrell calls out SNL at Oscars over controversial Irish skit

Colin Farrell appeared to call out Saturday Night Live at the 2023 Oscars.

The actor was one of many celebrities in the star-studded crowd at the 95th Academy Awards, which took place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday (12 March).

Farrell, who was in contention for the Best Actor award for his role in The Banshees of Inisherin, was approached during the ceremony by host Jimmy Kimmel, who relayed to him a “fan question”.

You can follow along with updates from the Oscars ceremony at The Independent’s live blog here.

Kimmel said that someone wrote in to say that they had adored Farrell’s performance in the film but was unable to understand what he said in it.

The actor replied: “Watch SNL from last night.”

His remark appeared to be a reference to the controversial SNL skit that aired on Saturday (11 March).

The episode began with a cold open sketch set on the Oscars red carpet, in which presenters Mario Lopez and “Maria Menounos or Kit Hoover” (Marcello Hernandez and Heidi Gardner) interviewed various “celebrities”.

Mikey Day and Molly Kearny appear as Farrell and Banshees of Inisherin co-star Brendan Gleeson in the sketch, speaking in a near-unintelligible dialect.

“Wow, and they haven’t even started drinking yet!” Hernandez responds, as Lopez.

The sketch was criticised for being “offensive” and “mean-spirited” in its portrayal of Irish stereotypes.

Elsewhere on Oscar night, Hugh Grant divided viewers with a “painful” interview conducted on the red carpet.

Ke Huy Quan delighted attendees with his emotional reaction to winning Best Supporting Actor for Everything Everywhere All at Once, while Jamie Lee Curtis’s surprise win didn’t seem to please everyone.

The winners of the Short Film (Live Action) award were praised for cutting their speech short to lead the auditorium in a rendition of “Happy Birthday”.

For a full list of this year’s winners, click here.