The 39-year-old creator of edgy animated sitcoms 'Family Guy' and 'American Dad', had been billed as the saviour of the show after a series of below par performances by hosts in recent years.
However, he faced a backlash after his performance, with perhaps the most controversial joke being that only one actor had really got "into Lincoln's head" - John Wilkes Booth, the man who assassinated the US president.
Responding to the boos from the audience, the host said, "150 years and it's still too soon."
In a pot shot at Daniel Day-Lewis, the MacFarlane said, "If you bumped into (black actor) Don Cheadle on the studio lot, did you try to free him? How deep does your method go?"
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He also suggested that the film 'Django Unchained', which features many racial epithets, had been based on Mel Gibson's voicemails - and described the violent movie as singers Chris Brown and Rihanna's idea of a "date movie". Brown famously assaulted his girlfriend Rihanna in 2009.
The Anti-Defamtion League, a Jewish media monitoring group, said it was "offensive and not remotely funny. It only reinforces stereotypes which legitimise anti-Semitism."
Time TV critic James Poniewozik called MacFarlane "American Dud" and said the performance "had a nasty streak, particularly concerning women.