Reneé Rapp addressed fan speculation that she's had no media training on “Saturday Night Live.”
While on a weeks-long press tour to promote the new musical version of “Mean Girls,” the 24-year-old has offered candid commentary during her interviews, leading to several viral moments on social media.
This included a jab at Jo Koy after the 2024 Golden Globe Awards during a game of “ins and outs” for the official TikTok page of TODAY With Hoda & Jenna.
Rapp appeared on “SNL” Jan. 20 as the musical guest alongside host Jacob Elordi and starred in one sketch that poked fun at her rumored lack of media training, as well as recent award show controversies with Selena Gomez and Emily Blunt, who both made headlines when fans tried to read their lips to translate their conversations.
Get top local stories in Southern California delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC LA's News Headlines newsletter.
In the sketch, Elordi and Bowen Yang served as professional lip-readers for a segment on Entertainment Tonight with hosts Heidi Gardner and Ego Nwodim.
“This award season, the internet has been abuzz with footage of celebs having conversations we wish we could hear,” Nwodim said to introduce Elordi and Yang. “Thanks to our next guests, we wouldn’t have to speculate any more.”
Entertainment News
The professional lip reading duo seemed promising before they tried to decipher an intimate moment between rumored couple Timothée Chalamet and Kylie Jenner at the 2024 Golden Globes.
However, when they fabricated a conversation that involved Chalamet believing Kim Kardashian was Jenner’s mom and several “Wonka” references, Gardner and Nwodim were not convinced.
The duo tried again with a clip of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce walking the streets of New York City, this time with blatant references to their careers, random noises, and conversation where their lips weren’t even moving.
In another clip from the Golden Globes of Jennifer Lawrence mouthing “If I don’t win, I’m leaving!” Yang tried to claim she was singing the opening lines to “Don’t Rain On My Parade.”
With Gardner and Nwodim still unconvinced, Elordi and Yang defended their talents, explaining that their “lip readings hold up in court” and have “had people put away for life.” When they attempted to showcase their skills this time around, they called for backup, bringing out their intern, who happened to be Rapp playing herself.
Gardner questioned the duo for having Rapp as their intern, but she explained the situation, telling her, “Yeah, I’ve been going absolutely off in every single interview lately, so now I have to do 40 hours of court ordered media training.”
While promoting “Mean Girls,” Rapp has participated in numerous interviews where she’s had her fair share of offhand comments, including telling Stephen Colbert about her crush on Mark Cuban and an interview with Extra where she goes to bat for her “Not My Fault” collaborator, Megan Thee Stallion.
Fans on social media have celebrated Rapp for her honesty, with one fan writing on X, “Honestly please keep the media training away from Renee Rapp she is exactly who she needs to be and we LOVE her for that.”
Rapp even addressed the internet’s input on her recent interviews, captioning her Instagram post on Jan. 17, “her lack of media training is outrageous.”
This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from Today:
