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Brat summer isn’t over just yet.
During the season 50 premiere of Saturday Night Live on Sept. 28, cast member Bowen Yang hilariously portrayed British pop star Charli XCX in a political-themed talk show featuring her current tourmate Troye Sivan (played by SNL‘s Sarah Sherman) as the DJ.
The nearly five-minute sketch opened with Yang’s Charli introducing her Talk Talk Show, a nod to one of the singer’s song titles, and moving into a segment called “brat or nat,” in which she ran through a handful of recent news topics, including Hunter Biden’s laptop (deemed “brat”) and Mark Robinson’s search history (“nat”).
Yang’s Charli — who sported a black wig, dark sunglasses and stylish dress — then welcomed her guests: club legend Susanne Bartsch (played by SNL host Jean Smart), CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins (Chloe Fineman) and Rep. Jasmine Crockett (Ego Nwodim).
“Have you ever done ketamine?” Yang’s Charli asked to Fineman’s Collins, who responded with frustration over not being asked current political events.
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The talk show’s background was appropriately colored the same lime green as the cover of Charli XCX’s latest album, Brat, which reached No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart in late June. The singer is currently on the road with her Sweat Tour, which visits U.S. arenas through the end of October.
Saturday’s SNL season premiere also featured musical guest Jelly Roll, making his debut on the long-running NBC sketch comedy show. The country star performed “Liar” and “Winning Streak,” which will appear on his upcoming album, Beautifully Broken, set for release on Oct. 11.
The next SNL on Oct. 5 will see comedian Nate Bargatze returning as host for a second straight season with Coldplay back as musical guest for an eighth time on the long-running show. The Chris Martin-fronted band first performed on the show in 2001, and their most recent appearance was in 2023.
Watch SNL‘s “Charli XCX Talk Show” sketch below. For those without cable, the broadcast streams on Peacock, which you can sign up for at the link here. Having a Peacock account also gives fans access to previous SNL episodes.
Jelly Roll brought a pair of new tracks during his musical guest debut on the season 50 premiere of Saturday Night Live. The 39-year-old country singer and rapper brought positive energy to Studio 8H on Sept. 28, performing new songs “Liar” and “Winning Streak,” both of which will appear on his upcoming album, Beautifully Broken, […]
While Chappell Roan has been very serious about her pleas to fans to respect her personal space, Saturday Night Live found a way to make light of the situation on this weekend’s season 50 premiere by likening the red-hot pop star to Moo Deng, the 2-month-old pygmy hippo living at a zoo in Thailand.
On Saturday night’s Weekend Update, Bowen Yang portrayed the viral hippo, who confided in Colin Jost about how hard it was to have the world’s attention on her and have zoogoers throwing bananas and shellfish at her.
“The response has been overwhelming, but it has come to the point that I have to set some boundaries,” Yang said, going on to paraphrase Roan’s words. “Reminder: Women owe you nothing. When I’m in my enclosure, tripping over stuff, biting my trainer’s knee, I am at work. That is the project. Do not yell my name or expect a photo just because I’m your parasocial bestie or because you appreciate my talent.”
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In August, the “Good Luck, Babe!” singer made headlines for speaking out against toxic fan behavior, detailing experiences with stalking and crossed boundaries that she’s faced over the past few months. “I’ve been in too many nonconsensual physical and social interactions and I just need to lay it out and remind you, women don’t owe you sh–,” she wrote at the time in an Instagram post. “I chose this career path because because I love music and art and honoring my inner child, I do not accept harassment of any kind because I chose this path, nor do I deserve it.”
Yang as Moo Deng went on to joke: “Before me, the only hippos in media were either Hungry, Hungry or Jada Pinkett in Madagascar. But now, I’m your favorite hippo’s favorite hippo.”
When Jost suggested that Yang’s Moo Deng sounded a lot like Chappell Roan, the Weekend Update host asked if she even knew who Roan was. “I’m 10 weeks old, Colin. Of course I know Chappell Roan,” Yang said. “And by the way, leave her alone! Let her take as much time as she needs for her mental health.”
On Friday, Roan dropped out of her scheduled performances at the All Things Go festival in both New York and Maryland, writing in a message on her Instagram Story, “I apologize to people who have been waiting to see me in NYC & DC this weekend at All Things Go, but I am unable to perform. Things have gotten overwhelming over the past few weeks and I am really feeling it. I feel pressures to prioritize a lot of things right now and I need a few days to prioritize my health. I want to be present when I perform and give the best shows possible.”
On SNL, Moo Deng also mirrored Roan’s comments about why she wouldn’t endorse a presidential candidate. “I know I’m only 10 weeks old, but this is very important to me so please listen: I will not be making an endorsement in this year’s election.” Roan recently said she would not be endorsing anyone in the U.S. presidential election, but then later clarified that she would be voting for Kamala Harris after fan backlash.
The Weekend Update segment wasn’t Yang’s only reference to Roan in Saturday’s episode: In a sketch later in the night, Yang referred to the classic show I Love Lucy as a “femininomenon,” borrowing the name of a Chappell Roan song.
Watch Yang as Moo Deng below:
In promos for the season 50 premiere of Saturday Night Live, former castmember Maya Rudolph is making her presence known. Musical guest Jelly Roll and host Jean Smart — both making their SNL debuts this weekend — are joined by castmember Marcello Hernandez in the new promos, but there was one more on the way. […]
Talent for the first five episodes for Saturday Night Live‘s 50th season were announced on Wednesday (Sept. 18), with Ariana Grande returning as host on Oct. 12. The first episode of the landmark season on Sept. 28 will feature Hacks star Jean Smart as host joined by first-time musical guest Jelly Roll. Somehow, the six-time […]
Bowen Yang and Travis Kelce are still buds, nearly a year after they bonded on the set of Saturday Night Live. The comedian revealed that he has stayed in touch with the Kansas City Chiefs tight end over the past year. “He is my straight male friend for life,” he said during an interview with […]
Before January 2024, Reneé Rapp publicly identified as bisexual. However, she made a last-minute decision when appearing in a sketch for Saturday Night Live to come out as lesbian — thanks to a sweet introduction from comedian Bowen Yang.
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However, the journey of coming out was a long one. Rapp sat down for a recent interview with Them, where she opened up about accepting her identity as a lesbian. The “Tummy Hurts” singer referred to the viral Tumblr guide, Lesbian Masterdoc, as helping her back in December. “I’m sure for some people it doesn’t feel right,” she explained. “I don’t know all the nuances to the conversation. However, for me, it was really beneficial.”
Rapp also attributed her self-realization to a new group of queer friends. “All of a sudden, I had these people around me who were either nonbinary people, trans friends, or lesbians, and I was like, ‘I feel so happy when I’m with you guys. And I also really want to call myself a lesbian when I’m around you,’” she said.
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The 24-year-old singer continued of the “lesbian” label, “When you’re bisexual, you almost want to prove yourself, so I thought it was kind of that. But it came to be that, no, I’m actually just gay like that.”
When it came time to perform on SNL, Rapp was set to appear in a sketch in which Yang was originally supposed to introduce her as “our little bisexual intern Reneé.” Before the show, Rapp ended up asking one of the show’s writers, Celeste Yim, to change “bisexual” to “gay”. She recalled, “I didn’t want to do it and be like, ‘Oh my God, I’m not using the word ‘bisexual,’ and make bisexual people feel s—ty. I also didn’t want to be like, ‘OK, I’m ‘gay’ and have all the lesbians be like, ‘Say you’re bisexual, then.’ I felt so wrapped up and scared.”
However, “gay” still didn’t feel right. Rapp ended up calling a friend, who told her, “I think it would be really f—ing sick if you came out as a lesbian on SNL.” Ultimately, she was introduced by Yang as “our little lesbian intern,” officially coming out.
“I stayed off my phone for a couple days because I was so f—ing terrified and felt so s—ty but then it was just, like, a thing, and it felt good,” she said.
Read the full interview here.
Stars: they’re just like us. In that we all have old social posts that we would probably like the world to forget, especially when they resurface at the worst possible time. That was the dilemma faced by award-winning The Bear star Ayo Edebiri, who found herself in hot water earlier this year when, on the eve of her first hosting gig on Saturday Night Live, some unflattering comments she’d made four years earlier about the night’s musical guest, Jennifer Lopez, were revived to her mortification.
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The Golden Globe- and Emmy-winning Bottoms actress addresses the rumors of tension on the set during the February episode in a new Vanity Fair cover story in which she throws cold water on the suggestion that her years-old Lopez diss caused issues on the episode. “That would be like Mr. Bean and Mick Jagger beefing,” Edebiri told the magazine about the power imbalance between her and the global pop superstar/actress. “And I’m obviously Mr. Bean. She’s J.Lo!”
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For a refresher, the former stand-up comedian said, “I was actually thinking about one of my favorite scams of all time because J.Lo is performing at the Super Bowl Halftime Show. Her whole career is one long scam,” during an episode of the 2020 Scam Goddess podcast. To prove there was no ill-ill, she made fun of the dug-up comment that night on SNL in a sketch.
“It’s wrong to leave mean comments or post comments just for clout — or run your mouth on a podcast and you don’t consider the impact because you’re 24 and stupid,” Edebiri joked in the bit titled “Why’d You Say It.”
“She was very chill and nice about it,” Edebiri told VF.
In a Variety story a few days after SNL, Lopez laughed the whole thing off, saying, “I’ve heard similar things said about me throughout my career, so it really didn’t affect me.”
Lopez told a reporter that the actor had apologized before the episode, adding that Edebiri was, “mortified and very sweet. She came to my dressing room and apologized with tears in her eyes, saying how terrible it was that she had said those things. She felt really badly and loved my performance because we had just done my soundcheck and she actually got to hear me perform. She was just like, ‘I’m so f–king sorry; it was so awful of me.’”
Though it likely made for an awkward week, Edebiri told VF that it didn’t ruin her long-held dream of taking her place on the SNL stage. “SNL is something that in my bones, I dreamed of as a comedian, as a young kid. That to me is a pinnacle of success,” she said.
Jake Gyllenhaal showed off his R&B musical chops while hosting Saturday Night Live.
During his opening monologue on May 18, the Road House actor sang an impressive rendition of Boyz II Men‘s 1992 hit song “End of the Road” to mark the show’s season 49 finale.
Before breaking into song, Gyllenhaal poked fun at hosting the season 49 finale before the long-running NBC sketch comedy show celebrates its 50th season.
“When you think of historic television seasons, the first number that pops into your head is 49,” the actor said. “I mean, sure, you know, one more episode and I would have been hosting the premiere of the 50th season, but who cares?”
He added, “I know we’re all waiting for Season 50, but you can’t get to 50, without a little bit of 49. And we’re here at the finale, the end of the road.”
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Gyllenhaal then crooned to the tune of “End of the Road” while jokingly listing off the celebrities SNL asked to host the season finale before him.
“You know, I was actually SNL‘s first choice to host the finale after a lot of people said no,” he said. “I guess they’re all holding out for the 50th but not me.”
“I’m the one who said, yeah,” the actor continued before rattling off names like Pedro Pascal, Zendaya and Ryan Gosling, who recently hosted the show.
Gyllenhaal was then joined by SNL cast members Ego Nwodim, Kenan Thompson, Punkie Johnson and Devon Walker, who sported black baseball hats and white sweaters with tan pants.
“We’ve come to the end of the road/ It’s the last episode/ It’s time to say goodbye to season 49/ You’ll be 50 soon,” they sang together.
Elsewhere during the episode, first-time musical guest Sabrina Carpenter performed her Billboard Hot 100 chart top 10 single “Espresso,” along with a medley of “Feather” and “Nonsense.” Check out the performances here.
Watch Gyllenhaal’s SNL monologue below. For those without cable, the broadcast streams on Peacock, which you can sign up for at the link here. Having a Peacock account also gives fans access to previous SNL episodes.
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Sabrina Carpenter brought the heat to Studio 8H. The 25-year-old pop star made her musical guest debut on Saturday Night Live, performing her Billboard Hot 100 chart top 10 song “Espresso,” along with a medley of “Feather” and “Nonsense.” The season 49 finale on May 18 was hosted by Jake Gyllenhaal, who returned in the […]