Woody Harrelson has sparked backlash on social media after his opening monologue on Saturday Night Live.
The 61-year-old actor began his segment by stating that it was his fifth time doing SNL and reminiscing on the multiple occasions he has hosted the comedy show.
He touched on various topics such as political divisions, smoking marijuana - claiming that his manager, Jeremy, transported the weed from an LA shop to New York for him - as well as not drinking alcohol for five months.
The Zombieland star then wrapped up his monologue by talking about a pitch that featured one of the "craziest scripts" he’s read - a clear metaphor for the pandemic - which included the "biggest drug cartels" that forced people to stay in their homes unless they agreed to take their substances.
Watch Harrelson's SNL opening monologue below:"So the movie goes like this," the actor explained. "The biggest drug cartels in the world are coming together and buying up all the media and all the politicians and forcing everyone in the world to stay locked in their homes."
"And the only way people can get out is if they take the cartel’s drugs, and keep taking them over and over again," he remarked. "I threw the script away. I mean who would believe this crazy idea?" Harrelson joked. "Being forced to take drugs? I do it voluntarily all day."
The True Detective star's comments about the collaboration between the medical industry and the government to advance vaccines were widely shared online, and not many people were impressed.
One user stated: "Has Woody Harrelson even been acting all this time or has he just wandered onto film sets in a daze, spewed whatever came to mind, and the directors always just said 'keep it'"
Another chimed in and commented: "Is this clip out of context or is woody actually f***ing stupid because nobody in this country was locked in their house or was forced to vaccinate lol."
A third declared: "It’s such an incredibly selfish & privileged position, the anti-vax, anti-lockdown, covid conspiracy one. Woody Harrelson, & those supporting such **, are only able to do so because they themselves are ok. Nobody who suffered or lost loved ones to Covid talks like that."
A fourth interjected: "Ooof I lost all respect for him."
Meanwhile, Twitter CEO Elon Musk weighed in on the discussion, writing: "So based. Nice work @nbcsnl!" and when a user warned people to "get ready for the meltdowns," the 51-year-old added: "Maybe they [media outlets] don’t realize that their propaganda is wrong?"
The Triangle of Sadness star has previously shared a slew of conspiracy theories related to the coronavirus pandemic. In one interview with Vanity Fair last year, he described wearing a mask as "absurd" and remarked that he hasn't gotten the virus because he’s "internally clean".
His comments on the late-night sketch show were bizarre judging by the fact that in the past SNL has been publicly covid-conscious and chose to film the quarantined season from their cast member's homes.
But, despite his opening monologue, Harrelson was commemorated with his SNL Five-Timers Club jacket at the end of the episode - which was presented by frequent host and award-winning actress Scarlett Johansson.
