Featured Image Credit: NBC
Topics: Saturday Night Live, Entertainment
Ben Thompson
Jenna Ortega took to the stage at Saturday Night Live in her first hosting gig, but fans were left divided by her opening monologue.
Appearing on the NBC show amid the press tour for her new movie Scream 6, the 20-year-old was quick with the jokes, often poking fun at herself.
The Wednesday star started off her monologue: "I'm 20 years old, which makes me the youngest host of the season so far.
"But I've actually been acting since I was a kid."
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Ortega took time to poke fun at herself - particularly her reputation for appearing in media with a darker edge.
Ortega remarked: "People assume I'm dark and twisted in real life because of these roles that I play, but I am not like that at all.
"I think there's just something about my face where people see it and they're like 'Hey, let's throw blood on that'."
Elsewhere during the monologue, the star didn't hold back, proceeding to troll Facebook: "I got discovered when my mom put a video of me on Facebook, which someone explained to me is like TikTok, but for racism instead of dancing."
Although Ortega's dig at the social media platform got a big laugh out of the SNL audience, fans on Twitter were divided.
One fan dryly wrote: "She's been talking a lot lately," while another unimpressed tweeter said: "There is literally racism on every single social media platform that has ever existed..."
A fellow user tweeted: "Didn’t she just say she wishes teens wouldn’t be stereotyped in media and yet here she is making stereotypical Gen Z jokes," with another critic branding Ortega 'corny' for the quip.
However, others conceded that Ortega may have a point about racism being a problem on Facebook.
One user tweeted: "And she's absolutely right."
Another supporter said: "All this booing but is she wrong?", while a fellow fan wrote: "SNL ought to hire her. This is the funniest joke I've heard on that show in years.
"She's wonderful."
Another of Ortega's defenders tweeted: "The replies are taking her seriously but forget this is an SNL monologue," while another questioned why 'everything' Ortega said caused an 'uproar' online.
During the rest of her monologue, she joked that she had come to host SNL in order to face her biggest fear - 'happy extroverted people who are always ready to perform'.
Continuing, Ortega said: "Everyone here has been so kind and this week has been a dream come true."