Blame Trump: Jason Sudeikis Defends Ted Lasso Amid Criticism It's Become a ‘Lecture About Social Justice,’ Says It's All Donald Trump’s Fault
May 14 2023, Published 5:30 p.m. ET
After the hit AppleTV show garnered criticism for being too "woke," SNL alum Jason Sudeikis revealed how Donald Trump's infamous golden escalator ride in 2015 completely changed the tone and direction of Ted Lasso to focus on "optimism" and "kindness," RadarOnline.com has learned.
In an interview with the Guardian, the three-time Emmy winner revealed that the title character of the hit AppleTV comedy was more "belligerent" before Trump announced he'd run for President in 2015.
"It was the culture we were living in," Sudeikis told the outlet. "I'm not terribly active online, and it even affected me. Then you have Donald Trump coming down the escalator."
"I was like, 'OK, this is silly,' and then what he unlocked in people… I hated how people weren't listening to one another," he continued. "Things became very binary, and I don't think that's the way the world works. And, as a new parent – we had our son Otis in 2014 – it was like, 'Boy, I don't want to add to this."
"Yeah, I just didn't want to portray it."
Once they got to the writer's room, any cynicism was removed from the character, and he was repurposed into the beloved naive coach of a down-on-their-luck British football team.
The show became a resounding hit due to its optimistic tone and memorable characters, becoming one of the streaming service's marquee programs. It ended up winning 11 Primetime Emmys in its first two seasons for the show's direction, writing and acting.
Sudeikis said that Richmond, the team Lasso coaches in the show, is meant to serve as a metaphorical "utopia."
"It has to honor the fact that not everywhere else outside that utopia is utopian. And so, how would you deal with these conflicts?" he explained. "From back in 2015 when we were first thinking: 'What is this thing?' I just knew inside that this guy was real. He's complicated. He's not perfect. He's going through stuff. But this is who he is. He actually is nice."
The show depicts Lasso as a man dealing with marital problems and panic attacks to show that even the best of people still has to face the demons in their lives every day.
The cast of Ted Lasso, including Sudeikis, Hanna Waddingham, Brett Goldstein, Brendan Hunt and Toheeb Jimoh, were invited to the White House to meet President Joe Biden, who Sudeikis parodied during his tenure on SNL, and speak at the White House Press Conference briefing room.
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"I'd been in a fake Oval Office a number of times," Sudeikis told the outlet, "and so there's a little bit of me that's nonplussed by it and just holding my s*** together."
"I'd met the president when he was vice president, and he's a very warm guy," he continued. "It's like meeting your good friend's father or your young friend's grandfather. He just makes you feel at home, and that home just happened to be the White House for that afternoon."
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