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Posted on 04/06/2026 12:28:37 PM PDT by nickcarraway
"Somebody stole something… and the number-one suspect is Black Snape?"
Saturday Night Live is diving headfirst into the discourse surrounding one of Harry Potter's most controversial casting choices.
During the sketch show's latest "Weekend Update" segment, Kam Patterson stepped into the role of Professor Snape — a nod to the upcoming HBO series casting a Black actor, Paapa Essiedu, to play the previously white character — and like many Potter fans and critics, SNL had some interesting observations to share about the decision.
"Good evening, Mr. Jost," Patterson began, appearing as Snape and trying out a faux-British accent. Immediately dropping it, he quipped, "Nah, I'm playing. I don't talk like that, bro. It's called code-switching. Codio switchio!"
Jost then asked how Snapes' year has gone at Hogwarts, to which Snape replied, "Not great. We got this new kid. His name is Harry Potter, and he's racist as hell."
As the crowd laughed, he explained, "Harry Potter — or, the Proud Boy Who Lived — spent the whole year telling everybody that the school's only Black teacher was secretly evil."
Pointing to the plot of the first Harry Potter book, Jost responded, "I think he's just worried because he knows someone's trying to steal the Sorcerer's Stone."
"So. Somebody stole something…" Snape began slowly, prompting more laughter from the audience. "...And the number-one suspect is Black Snape?"
Showing a picture of the first movie's actual villain, Professor Quirrell, he continued, "They didn't even look at the white guy in the turban! So offensive. He's got wizard Hitler on the back of his head!"
Offering some sympathy, Jost replied, "I'm really sorry that he just jumped to conclusions like that." To which Snape replied, "It happens all the time."
Laying out a few other issues — such as the choice to have Snape teach "the Dark arts" — Patterson's Snape declared, "The whole Wizarding World is racist. There's one other Black guy, Kingsley Shacklebolt, a name I'm guessing they got out of the Wu-Tang name generator."
After complaining that they dressed Shacklebolt as "a Haitian cab driver," he asked, "And why they got to put 'shackle' in his name? That's crazy, man. Shackle? Shackle!"
To this, Jost reluctantly said, "Well, for the very first time I'm starting to think J.K. Rowling might be problematic."
But Snape wasn't done lamenting his issues with the Wizarding World, complaining, "We have magic, we have wands that can do anything, and people in my world still have slaves."
When Jost argued that they aren't slaves, but rather "house elves," Snape replied, "Yes, some folk got house elves. I bet you didn't know they got field elves, too. They didn't put that in the book, huh, Colin?"
Ending his rant, Snape directly addressed a certain Hogwarts student. Turning dramatically to the camera, he said, "I do have one final thing I'd like to say to Harry Potter… Boy, your mama was thick as hell, dog. I miss her so much."
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Essiedu's casting has been a source of controversy for the adaptation — one of many. After the Black actor was chosen for the role, some were quick to point out that altering the character's race changes the dynamic of his interactions with the young protagonist, who mistrusts the Potions professor without much evidence to back up his assumptions. Fans and critics have speculated about whether or not the show will address those implications, especially as the series goes on to cover the character's dark and complicated backstory.
At the same time, the casting sparked a wave of racist backlash against the actor, who is English and of Ghanian descent, with detractors arguing that the character was written as white and should remain so.
Essiedu recently revealed the extent of the hatred he's received online, which has included actual death threats. "I've been told, 'Quit, or I'll murder you,'" the actor said in an interview with U.K. outlet The Times in March. "The reality is that if I look at Instagram, I will see somebody saying, 'I'm going to come to your house and kill you.' While I hope I'll be okay, nobody should have to encounter this for doing their job."
Watch SNL parody the new Harry Potter series' casting in the "Weekend Update" clip above.
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Wait, wrong Alan Rickman reference.
The left must destroy everything
Paapa Essiedu...who is English and of Ghanian descent
This stupid casting move is going to kill off the series before the scheduled end. No one asked for this or wants a black Snape and it kills the whole dynamic of the character.
It will literally make his back story look racist when race had nothing to do with it in the books. Why, just why?
It will probably do OK the first season and then steadily go off the cliff. I have no interest in watching it and many others feel the same.
Once I had the TV on and noticed it was one of the Harry Potter movies. The movie characters were playing some kind of game where they flew around on broomsticks. Harry Potter’s team was obviously the “good guy” team, and it was racially diverse. The other, bad guy team, was ALL WHITE. The leader of that team was a blond, blue-eyed, Aryan looking kid. So yes, Harry Potter is racist, but not in the way they think.
You just keep on keepin'
On the road that you choose;
Don't you give up walkin'
'Cause you gave up shoes...
Ease on down, ease on down the road
Come on, ease on down
Ease on down the road
I remember standing in line outside of a book store in the evening years ago so that my young son could get the latest Harry Potter book. It was a line full of innocent children with their parents. The left can turn a fairly tale into a porn movie - and have.
“Harry Potter and the Missing Fathers”
Notice the white dude in the middle is wearing gloves so he doesn’t have to touch the bare handed Black guy. Racist signaling going on? Microagression?
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