For some Saturday Night Live viewers, joking about a satanic ritual was an even bigger offense than lying about your birthday at Friendly’s.
The “Birthday at Friendly’s” sketch from Saturday’s Lady Gaga-hosted episode has stirred up controversy online for portraying satanic rituals, with certain religious circles sounding alarms while conspiracists accuse the show of something more nefarious.
The sketch in question depicts Heidi Gardner as a woman who is punished by Friendly’s staff after her friends convince her to falsely claim it’s her birthday in an attempt to get a free dessert. When she’s found out, the servers quickly engage in a ritual that becomes an homage to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
Gaga instructs Gardner to “drink the blood of Lamashtu” (a demon in Mesopotamian religion). Blood pours out of Sarah Sherman’s mouth. Then, aping Temple of Doom, high priest Mola Ram (Marcello Hernández) emerges to lock Gardner in a cage and steal her heart.
Gardner’s heart is ultimately served to her friends as an ice cream sundae on the house. “Aw, look. They put a little ice cream cone hat on Jenny’s heart,” Andrew Dismukes exclaims. “They are friendly! Yay!”
Despite the heavy Temple of Doom references—and the fact that the sketch (written by Colin Jost and Will Stephen) was staged on a comedy show that has pushed boundaries for five decades—some viewers were unhappy with the show for treading into devil territory.
“Satanic. Lame. Unfunny. Horrible.” wrote one popular X account.
“The SNL skit isn’t funny and it is scary. Just ten years ago this filth would have never been aired. Satan is at work in Hollywood,” said another X user.
“For those wondering, that was not a mock ritual, at least not parts of it. Understand this is happening & Hollywood is fully on board,” wrote yet another user.
The sketch isn’t the first time Gaga has courted satanic controversy. In 2012, she cancelled a sold-out show in Indonesia following threats from the Islamic Defenders Front and other conservative religious groups who had accused the musician of promoting devil worship.
So far, Friendly’s has remained silent about its appearance on SNL.
