Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update segment took aim at the forthcoming Harry Potter reboot, with comedian Kam Patterson appearing as Professor Severus Snape—now played by Black actor Paapa Essiedu in the series. Patterson’s Snape wasted no time declaring the franchise’s hero ‘racist as hell’, joking that Harry spent a whole year assuming the school’s only Black teacher was secretly evil.
When host Colin Jost suggested Harry was just worried about the Sorcerer’s Stone, Snape retorted: ‘So somebody stole something, and the number one suspect is Black Snape?’ The character noted that such racist undertones are routine, recalling that upon arriving at Hogwarts he was immediately pegged as the Dark Arts professor despite majoring in African Muggle Studies.
Snape also mocked the naming of Black character Kingsley Shacklebolt, claiming it came from a ‘Wu-Tang name generator’, and criticised his costume in the original films for making him look like ‘he was selling cocoa butter incense out of a barbershop’. The skit further jibed at the wizarding world’s use of house-elf slavery, with Snape lamenting: ‘We have magic, we have wands that can do anything, and people in my world still have slaves.’
The real-world controversy was highlighted by Jost’s line: ‘For the very first time, I’m starting to think J.K. Rowling might be problematic.’ Outside the satire, Essiedu revealed to The Times that he has received death threats over his casting, including messages saying ‘Quit or I’ll murder you’. He acknowledged the weight of the abuse, saying: ‘Many people put their lives on the line in their work. I’m playing a wizard in Harry Potter.’
The SNL sketch comes amid a wave of racist backlash against Essiedu following the reboot’s first trailer, despite the character of Snape being written as white in Rowling’s books. The series is set to re-adapt the original seven novels for a new generation of viewers.
