Sacramento irked by Stephen Colbert's 'trashing' of California city at heart of 'Lady Bird'

Stephen Colbert's interview with "Lady Bird" star Saoirse Ronan Wednesday night didn't make many fans out of Sacramento residents.

The film, which is based on director Greta Gerwig's life growing up in California's capital city, has scored rave reviews from critics, even breaking a record on movie review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes.

But high praise of the film didn't score any points for Sacramento with Colbert, who told Ronan that he's been to Sacramento and he's "aware of how boring it is."

Ronan defends the city, calling it "a beautiful place," but Colbert presses on, agreeing that it's "very beautiful, but there's not a lot to do."

In this Oct. 6, 2017 photo, Greta Gerwig poses for a portrait in New York to promote her film, "Lady Bird." Gerwig, a Sacramento native, filmed many of the scenes and backdrops in "Lady Bird" in Sacramento.

Click through this gallery to see the Sacramento landmarks featured in the film that you can visit in real-life. less In this Oct. 6, 2017 photo, Greta Gerwig poses for a portrait in New York to promote her film, "Lady Bird." Gerwig, a Sacramento native, filmed many of the scenes and backdrops in "Lady Bird" in ... more Photo: Scott Gries, Associated Press Photo: Scott Gries, Associated Press Image 1 of / 28 Caption Close Sacramento irked by Stephen Colbert's 'trashing' of California city at heart of 'Lady Bird' 1 / 28 Back to Gallery

Colbert's assessment struck a nerve with locals on social media, most colorfully with Redditors.

"Typical opinion of a east coast elitist," wrote one user. "Ironic too since the film his guest stars in is about understanding how great home, in this case Sacramento, really is."

"Jon Stewart and most other late night talk show host (sic) are funnier anyways," added another. (Stewart retired from hosting "The Daily Show" in mid-2015.)

Defensive residents and fans of the city also took to Twitter, with one McClatchy reporter joking that Colbert got "Sacramento mixed up with Bakersfield," and another pleading with the late night host to "please be kinder to Sacramento."

Wonderful family town Mr Colbert. Fairly peaceful and diverse population. Can go to Bay area if I crave excitement. Please be kinder to Sacramento. Not every place has to rock. https://t.co/EeXjpZWvzD — Lila Watkins (@LilaWatkins5) December 7, 2017

The Sacramento Bee even ran a story with the dramatic headline, "Stephen Colbert trashes Sacramento in interview with 'Lady Bird' star."

There are, however, plenty who agree with Colbert, including one Redditor, who wrote, "I'm okay with people thinking Sac is boring or whatever. This place is a hidden gem and I wouldn't want those people here tarnishing it anyways. Cobert (sic) is pretty entertaining otherwise."

Alyssa Pereira is an SFGATE staff writer. Email her at apereira@sfchronicle.com or find her on Twitter at @alyspereira.

