New Yorker ‘humour’ piece on Cillian Murphy slammed by Irish readers as ‘awful’ and ‘unfunny’

Stephen Porzio

One person described the article as ‘weird’ and ‘indefensibly bad’.

A humour piece published by popular US magazine The New Yorker this week about Cillian Murphy has drawn the ire of Irish readers over its use of Irish stereotypes.

Written by Wendi Aarons and Johanna Gohmann, the article is titled ‘Cillian Murphy’s bedtime routine’ and is meant to be a comedic imagining of what the recent Irish Oscar winner does a typical day from 5pm to 11pm.

The article, however, has been slammed online for its over-reliance on Irish cliches, or rather its over-reliance on American ideas of what Ireland is like.

“Call ’round to the pub and dine on a hearty meal of potatoes, bangers, and the knowledge that you are Christopher Nolan’s favorite,” the piece kicks off with.

Later in it, Murphy is said to play “the panpipes”, use a “Guinness glitter bath bomb”, wear a “dressing gown made by Colin Farrell’s nana”, polish his cheeks with “Kerrygold butter”, summon “wee faeries” and “make gentle but furious love to the ghost of Molly Malone”.

“Throw open the shutters and shout, ‘I am the Father of the atomic bomb!’ But in Gaelic,” another part of the article reads, while there is also a reference to Barry Keoghan and the final scene of Saltburn.

Between the Irish stereotypes and inaccuracies, as can be expected, Irish readers aren’t happy.

You can see a sample of their tweets about The New Yorker piece right here:

I usually reckon anyone getting het up about Oirish gags in American media need to get over themselves but that New Yorker Cillian Murphy thing is just weird and indefensibly bad
— Patrick Horan (@patrickjhoran) March 28, 2024

Poor enough from @NewYorker

Stereotypical unfunny drivel.

Cillian Murphy’s Bedtime Routine https://t.co/7c3MR4WMC9 pic.twitter.com/2yO3V70xdY
— Eimear Reilly (@eimear_reilly) March 28, 2024

Hi ⁦⁦@NewYorker⁩ put aside that this isn’t funny (that’s a given for your magazine’s “humour”) or the obnoxious weirdness or the clumsy mixing up of Ireland with Scotland and England, what’s appalling is the anti-Irish bigotry. Delete. Apologise. https://t.co/ps5jxOEvQc
— John Rogers (@JohnRogersShow) March 30, 2024

It’s kind of amazing that the ⁦@NewYorker no less would publish such utter shite as this⁩ https://t.co/yYQQUCg4jl
— Ian Willoughby (@Ian_Willoughby) March 28, 2024

The AWFUL racist stereotype piece from the ⁦⁦.@NewYorker⁩ on Cillian Murphy. Shameful, cheap ‘journalism’ https://t.co/1OGAz5eHEI
— Angela Gallagher (@thesilvervoice) March 29, 2024