‘Red pill’: Hollywood star’s anti-vax SNL speech

Woody Harrelson has used his stint hosting Saturday Night Live to promote a wide-ranging Covid conspiracy theory that linked the pandemic to a government cover-up.

Woody Harrelson has appeared on SNL to monologue a wide-ranging Covid conspiracy. Picture: Saturday Night Live

American actor Woody Harrelson has returned to Saturday Night Live for another hosting gig, and used his opening monologue seemingly to promote a wide-ranging Covid conspiracy theory.

In a six-minute speech filled with weed references, Harrelson constructed an elaborate narrative that linked a worldwide lockdown to drug cartels and government cover-ups.

“The last time I did SNL was around Thanksgiving 2019, three years ago, and you would not believe what happened after the show,” he said to laughter from the live audience.

“I went walking in the greatest part of this city, Central Park, lay against a tree and started reading the craziest script.”

Woody Harrelson's monologue! pic.twitter.com/FAEcBDnIKu

— Saturday Night Live - SNL (@nbcsnl) February 26, 2023

In the script, “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 cartels’ drugs and keep taking them over and over,” Harrelson said.

“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 long.”

Though the monologue didn’t explicitly name Covid or its vaccines, the reference was fairly on-the-nose — and Harrelson has previously called mask-wearing “absurd” and shared articles linking supposed “negative effects of 5G” with the outbreak of the pandemic.

The divisive act was quickly picked up on social media, where it met both praise and ridicule.

Anti-vaccine proponents commended Harrelson for “red pilling the masses” and “speaking truth to power”.

Twitter CEO Elon Musk himself weighed in, writing: “So based. Nice work SNL!” and “Good one” in separate tweets.

Other users were not amused.

So based. Nice work @nbcsnl!

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 26, 2023

One viewer tweeted: “So Woody Harrelson uses his SNL monologue to push his hostility to Covid vaccines? Really?”

“It’s such an incredibly selfish & privileged position, the anti-vax, anti-lockdown, covid conspiracy one. Woody Harrelson, & those supporting such bs (bulls**t), are only able to do so because they themselves are ok. Nobody who suffered or lost loved ones to Covid talks like that,” another wrote.

The night’s musical guest was Jack White, who performed “Taking Me Back”, “Fear Of The Dawn” and “A Tip From You To Me” from his two 2022 albums Fear Of The Dawn and Entering Heaven Alive.

In other parts of the six-minute speech, Harrelson promoted both his upcoming movie Champions — the reason he was on the show — and his “newly single” and “very handsome” manager Jeremy, who was in the audience.

“Hello you beautiful people, and you ugly people,” Harrelson began the monologue.

“No, I jest. This country seems so divided. Beautiful, ugly; black, white; blue, red. I love everybody, maybe because I’m a redneck hippie. You know, the red in me thinks you should be able to own guns. The blue in me, squirt guns.”