Woody Harrelson Ignored Backlash Against His SNL Covid Monologue

Woody Harrelson became the subject of internet backlash in February after his Saturday Night Live monologue turned into a Covid conspiracy joke. However, the actor didn’t know anything about that as he doesn’t read anything on the internet so is not bothered by any outrage that it may have been sending his way. In the latest issue of Esquire Magazine, Harrelson was asked about how controversial his SNL opening was, but had a simple and blunt response. He said:

“Well, people told me it was, shall we say, trending. No, I don’t look at that sh*t. I feel like, ‘I said it on “SNL.”‘ I don’t need to go further with it…other than to say—well, no, I won’t. Never mind. That’s enough.…But it don’t change my life one bit. Not one bit, if the mainstream media wants to have a go at you, right? My life is still wonderful.”

The SNL monologue in question saw Harrelson spending much of it talking about the “craziest script” he had ever read. After pitching the movie, his final flourish went, “So the movie goes like this. The biggest drug cartels in the world get together and buy up all the media and all the politicians and force all the people in the world to stay locked in their homes. And people can only come out if they take the cartel’s drugs and keep taking them over and over. I threw the script away. I mean, who was going to believe that crazy idea? Being forced to do drugs? I do that voluntarily all day.”

The monologue was immediately jumped on as a stab at the way the Covid pandemic has been handled, including the extensive vaccine mandates and safety protocols that were in place for years. It was more apparent to anyone who had read Harrelson’s frank statement in the New York Times just prior to his appearance on the comedy show.

Related: Why Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson are Set to Be Hollywood’s Next Power Couple

Woody Harrelson Really Doesn’t Have Time For Internet Opinions

For every piece of positivity the internet has to offer, there are plenty of trolls who are happy to take a shot at people from behind their keyboards. For Harrelson, it doesn’t matter because he just avoids any public opinion. At least, other than one time that he was able to recall. He continued:

“I don’t read [the internet]. It’s like when reviews come out for movies. I don’t look. Well, I did one time. I was in this play in San Francisco with Sean Penn in 2000. At one point, I was stretching in the place that I was renting there and there was an LA Times, and it had a picture of me and Sean on stage. I’d only been hearing, ‘Oh my God, the critics just love you! You’re going to be so psyched!’ Well, it just so happened that the paper was open to the review, and I started reading it. Oh, it just went after me. It f-cked me up for at least two, three performances. It’s a poison pill.”