SNL’s Stranger Things Joke Sparks Homophobic Backlash Online

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A joke referencing the show Stranger Things on Saturday Night Live has sparked online criticism, with some viewers accusing the show of being homophobic. The joke appeared in a sketch during an episode hosted by Finn Wolfhard (who played Mike Wheeler on Stranger Things) and parodied a scene where Noah Schnapp’s character, Will Byers, comes out.

Okay, so this SNL sketch is hilarious! Jeremy Culhane plays a character named Will, and it starts with him joking that his coming out scene is still happening. They cleverly mix in clips from the actual Stranger Things coming out scene, but instead of the usual confession, he gets super emotional and declares he’s gay… and then adds, “I like D…and D…Dungeons and Dragons, just like you guys!” It’s a really funny twist, you should definitely check it out.

I’ve been seeing so much upset on X about that sketch, and honestly, I get it. One person, @moonsinfant, really hit the nail on the head when they asked who thought it was a good idea. It just feels like they didn’t learn anything from the way fans reacted to the original scene, or to Will’s whole story arc in the latest season. It’s really disappointing to see.

Dailyschnapp has criticized Saturday Night Live for recreating a scene where a teenager comes out as gay in the 1980s. Schnapp previously shared that filming the scene was a very emotional experience, and they’re upset to see it being made fun of by adult comedians.

Ellie started a post by mentioning that the purpose of Saturday Night Live is to be funny, but then abruptly stopped mid-sentence. They finished with a passionate declaration, saying they’d defend Will Byers from the show.

A fan, @bylerism, questioned why the Saturday Night Live episode focused jokes on Will’s sexuality but didn’t playfully tease the other male characters from Stranger Things in a similar way.

I saw this hilarious clip @byerskoury posted! It’s a woman totally losing it at a restaurant – she’s crying and spills her wine everywhere. The clip starts with someone saying, “She felt exposed, vulnerable, like a fool,” and it perfectly captures how people felt when they thought SNL wouldn’t joke about Will!

The recent Saturday Night Live sketch, and the reaction to it, adds to the ongoing debate about season 5 of Stranger Things, particularly the latter half. The episode where Will comes out as gay, episode 7, received the lowest IMDb rating of any episode in the series, scoring only 5.7 out of 10.

The way Saturday Night Live handled the sketch was made even more complex by the fact that Finn Wolfhard was the host. Many Stranger Things fans, particularly those who hoped for a romantic relationship between Mike and Will (known as “Bylers”), were upset that the show didn’t go in that direction during the final season.

The latest episode of Saturday Night Live included a reunion between Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, and Caleb McLaughlin. They appeared in a funny sketch during Wolfhard’s opening monologue – a sequel to Sex and the City called Mike in Manhattan. The show also featured a fake ninth episode of Stranger Things where the characters travel to Iceland to search for Eleven, played by Kenan Thompson. The episode poked fun at the idea of expanding popular franchises, even imagining spinoffs for characters like Steve Harrington and Nancy Wheeler.

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2026-01-18 17:40