Elon Musk Hosting SNL, Yay or Nay?

The second richest man in America is set to host Saturday Night Live this coming May 8. Wait, what? No offense against Elon Musk but is the longest-running late-night comedy show all in it for the Musk support or ratings? 

Some SNL cast members were dumbfounded when the TV producers chose Elon Musk to host the May 8 show. The Tesla and SpaceX owner tweeted on his account, “Let’s find out just how live Saturday Night Live really is.”

Bowen Yang, an SNL cast member, posted his Instagram story referring to Musk’s Tweet and captioned it, “What the f—- does this even mean?”

Will this be the kind of joke we’ll hear from the business tycoon this coming May 8? I certainly hope not! 

Musk and His Insensitive Comments

Getting a bump in ratings and views is certainly every show’s goal. With SNL’s ratings spiraling downwards since last spring, it undeniably needs something that will create a stir. But is Elon Musk the kind of stir the show needs? It probably depends on whether or not you agree with some of his COVID-19 slurs. 

Elon Musk has received a bad rap about his insensitive comments on the COVID-19 pandemic. He compared the national stay-at-home mandates to “de facto house arrest,” as seen on his Tweet last April 29, 2020. He also said he doesn’t support the vaccine, and there’s no way he’s getting one because the “coronavirus panic is dumb.”

Does he even realize the number of deaths caused by the pandemic — 570,000 to be more approximate. And does he even realize that SNL’s long-time music producer Hal Willner was also a COVID-19 casualty and died in April last year? If I were to host SNL in the coming week, I’d take all that back! 

And a year after, voila, Elon Musk did. His tweet from April 8, 2021, said, “To be clear, I do support vaccines in general & covid vaccines specifically. The science is unequivocal. 

In very rare cases, there is an allergic reaction, but this is easily addressed with an EpiPen.”

SNL Cast and Fans Speak Up

Musk’s Tweet is perfect timing to be wholeheartedly welcomed by SNL cast members if you ask me. But some cast members are still criticizing this decision. One cast member Andrew Dismukes posted an Instagram story with the caption, “ONLY CEO I WANT TO DO A SKETCH WITH IS Cher-E Oteri.”

Another cast member Nora Dunn also vehemently refused to be on the show with the controversial CEO. And apparently, some Twitter users think so too.

Josh Gondelman tweeted, “Elon Musk hosting SNL is huge for guys still making “that’s what she said” jokes who think they’d be great at hosting SNL.

Eve 6, everyone’s favorite alt-rock band of the 90s also tweeted, “elon musk is incapable of being funny which in and of itself is funny but im sure snl will figure out a way to make it not funny”

And user Keith Edwards said, “Elon Musk hosting SNL is the most reckless casting decision they’ve made since Donald Trump.”

SNL aims to go for relevance and ratings this quarter. So they need to create a buzz and get people talking and posting on social media. But will Musk and his 45 million followers be the hero that saves the show? I guess there’s only one way to find out!