Tom Hanks is often referred to as a national treasure because of how widely adored he is all over the country. The actor has had a long spanning career, playing dozens of memorable characters.
Everyone has their favorite character Tom Hanks has played. Whether it is the innocent Forrest Gump or the terrified Chuck Noland from Cast Away. We all have an affinity for a certain character.
However, Tom Hanks recently reprised an old character of his and not everyone was happy with the decision. Keep reading to learn more.
Tom Hanks joined the dozens of other stars who appeared on this weekend’s episode of Saturday Night Live. This weekend, SNL celebrated its 50th anniversary and in celebration aired a three hour long special episode.Hanks appeared in the sketch Black Jeopardy. He wore the signature red MAGA hat and portrayed a character named Doug with folksy, conservative energy. This is not the first time Hanks has played the character.
Kenan Thompson brought back a long-running sketch on the show which is a parody of the long-running game show Jeopardy! Hanks appeared on the sketch as Doug.
“If more folks went to church, we wouldn’t be in this mess we’re in now,” Hanks said with a dramatic southern drawl.
Thompson’s plays Darnell Hayes, the host of the show who agrees with Doug walked toward him for a handshake.To which Doug recoils and says, “Don’t like that, whoa, whoa, whoa.” urging Hayes to respond, “It’s just a handshake.” Doug eventually offers up his hands for the handshake.
“Maybe I’ll start a show for you to come on and we’ll call it ‘White Jeopardy,’” Doug then adds.
“We don’t need it,” Darnell Hayes replies.
A lot of people however found issue with Hanks’ portrayal of Doug.
“Tom Hanks just came out on the SNL 50th anniversary special in a MAGA hat, doing a skit, where he acted like he didn’t want to shake a black man’s hand,” one user wrote on X. “This is why SNL is in the toilet.”
Others called him a racist for the character. One user wrote, “Tom Hanks is a racist for weaponizing racism. We’re sick of your racist agenda Tom, how can you disrespect your own heritage like that? Elite POS”
Another one wrote about how they felt the portrayal of Doug by Hanks was offensive, “Faux Tom Hanks just came out on the SNL 50th anniversary special in a MAGA hat, doing a skit, where he acted like he didn’t want to shake a black man’s hand. This is why SNL is in the toilet.”
Others thought that the sketch and character were divisive with one person writing, “Tom Hanks’ SNL skit was a letdown. Cringe, tone-deaf, and divisive. Do better, SNL.”
The three-hour live special had a spate of sketches and the Black Jeopardy sketch was one of the first ones aired. The other characters in the sketch included Leslie Jones as Shanice, Tracy Morgan as Darius and Eddie Murphy as the person right beside him, Tracy Morgan.
They dragged out Tom Hanks on SNL to serve as the old, white, racist MAGA guy who didn’t want to shake a black man’s hand.
Disgusting. pic.twitter.com/mDMGLi4uBi
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) February 17, 2025
The sketch starts with Thompson saying: “Welcome to ‘Black Jeopardy,’ the only ‘Jeopardy’ where every single viewer fully understood Kendrick’s halftime performance.”
Chris Rock was a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1990 to 1993 and also appeared briefly as the host.
Hanks first appeared as Doug almost a decade ago in a 2016 segment for the same sketch. In that sketch, Doug’s character similarly hesitates to shake the host’s hand.
The character and sketch were written by then-co-head writers Bryan Tucker and Michael Che.
“I am white, but during the formative times in my life, the comedians that I really enjoyed were always black,” Tucker said in an interview to Vulture in 2018.
In the same interview, Kenan Thompson took a moment to praise Hank’s portrayal of Doug and said that the actor had done a great job at making the character more ‘human.’
“Him playing a character that was so far on the other side of the aisle, it was super-bold,” the comedian said in the interview.
Tucker also revealed that the hesitation Doug displays for the handshake was an in-the-moment decision Hank had made.
“When he did it, I laughed super-hard in my mind but played it off,” Thompson recalled of the moment. “It was the most natural ad-lib I’ve ever done.”
Tucker also recalled how Hanks had told them Oprah had called him to talk about the sketch which according to Tucker was “cool.”
It seems like the opinions of Tom Hanks’ character of Doug are very divisive. What do you think of this sketch? Let us know in the comments.