SNL

Tonight’s ‘SNL’ Will Have A Limited Cast And No Live Audience Due To The Latest COVID Outbreak

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SNL Paul Rudd
NBC

A lot has changed in the last week. On Monday, society was largely back to normal, as it had been for months and months, all thanks to vaccines. People were gearing up for some holiday travel. They were going to in-person events, like movies and Broadway shows. In the back of everyone’s mind, there was the Omicron variant, far more transmissible but also — if you’re vaxxed — far less deadly. Then cases started spiking. New York City, once the epicenter of the pandemic, suddenly had days of record-breaking cases. Shows got cancelled. Events were postponed. (People are still flocking to the movies, or at least one of them.) And now it’s affected tonight’s Paul Rudd-hosted SNL, too.

As per Deadline, what was supposed to be a joyous occasion — last episode of 2021, host Paul Rudd’s acceptance into the “five timer’s club” — will still happen. It will just be dramatically scaled back.

“Due to the recent spike in the Omicron variant and out of an abundance of caution, there will be no live audience for tonight’s taping of Saturday Night Live and the show will have limited cast and crew,” a spokesperson for SNL announced on Saturday. “The show continues to follow all government safety guidelines in addition to a rigorous testing protocol.”

It’s a return to SNL in the pre-vaccine days of the pandemic, when the performers played to little or no crowds, doing their best to deliver laughs while social distancing and staying safe. At the early day of the pandemic, in spring of 2020, the show dramatically revamped itself, with performers doing everything from their home over their computers and assorted gizmos, with sometimes outside-the-box results.

SNL, of course, records in New York City, which has transformed from a largely reawaken mecca of culture and commerce into a place of long COVID testing lines, people scrambling to get results before boarding planes, trains, and automobiles. On Friday, New York State counted 21,027 new cases — a record, up from the original peak of 19,942, in January of 2021.

But the show must go on, albeit a modified version. Host Rudd will be joined by musical guest Charli XCX.

(Via Deadline)

Billie Eilish Leads A Twerk-Filled Update To The Story Of Jesus’ Birth In A ‘SNL’ Sketch

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Last night, for the second time in her career, Billie Eilish brought her talents to Saturday Night Live. The last time she appeared, back in 2019, she defied gravity with a performance of “Bad Guy.” This time around, the singer signed on as both musical guest and host. In one sketch, the singer and cast member Heidi Gardner joined forces to update the story of Jesus’ birth.

The sketch was entitled “Hip-Hop Nativity,” and it found the two recruiting a group of actors to play many of the characters from the biblical story. They taught them how to twerk, strut, and pole dance. The actors initially raises issues over the biblical update, but they eventually went along with it. The closing bit also jokingly revealed that Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda will direct a full-length film version of Billie and Gardner’s updated nativity story.

In addition to the “Hip-Hop Nativity” skit, Billie also performed “Happier Than Ever” and “Male Fantasy” on SNL. The former made for an epic performance while the latter was a bit darker and relaxed.

In non-Eilish SNL news, the episode also featured Kate McKinnon returning as Dr. Fauci while Weekend Update skewered Jussie Smollett and the torching of the Fox News Christmas tree.

You can watch Billie’s Hip-Hop Nativity sketch in the video above.

Saweetie Explains Exactly What To Do For An ‘Icy Chain’ In Her Bouncy New Single

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Ahead of her upcoming performance on SNL this weekend, Saweetie has released her latest Pretty Bitch Music single, “Icy Chain.” While she’s been teasing the track, performing it both at 88rising’s Head In The Clouds festival and on her Icy Season Amazon special, it looks like she wanted to give fans an early holiday gift before playing it live on Saturday night.

Produced by Lil Aaron(!) and Rocco Did It Again and based on the Memphis trap sound popularized by the likes of Juicy J and the Three-6-Mafia, the energetic single finds Saweetie telling her listeners exactly what to do to secure themselves an Icy chain of their own: Twerk that ass. On the verses, Saweetie coolly flaunts her luxurious possessions — a crocodile Birkin, a mink, a Rolex, and a Prada bikini — while dismissing any potential detractors, from jilted ex-sponsors to pretentious animal rights protection groups.

Meanwhile, Saweetie fans were given no shortage of new material from the bougie Bay Area rapper this week, who also contributed to French Montana’s new album (reuniting with Doja Cat on “Handstand“) and the soundtrack to Halle Berry’s upcoming Netflix directorial debut Bruised. And last week, she dropped the full version of her single “Get It Girl” on the Insecure soundtrack after teasing it in a Beats By Dre ad earlier this month. It looks like it really is Icy Season — and Pretty Bitch Music is hopefully also right around the corner to cap it off.

Listen to “Icy Chain” above.

‘SNL’ Emulates Post Malone, Miley Cyrus, And More With Help From Ed Sheeran In Their ‘Dionne Warwick Talk Show’ Sketch

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Ed Sheeran stopped by Saturday Night Live for a pair of performances on the late-night show, to celebrate the release of his fourth album =. After he tested positive for coronavirus, many worried that would be unable to perform. Luckily, that was not the case, as he delivered performances of “Shivers” and “Overpass Graffiti.” He also appeared in a sketch for SNL’s edition of The Dionne Warwick Talk Show, with Ego Nwodim as the legendary singer.

The sketch began with Chloe Fineman, who played Miley Cyrus, sitting across from Nwodim. Kieran Culkin, who appeared as Jason Mraz and hosted the episode, and Pete Davidson, who appeared as Post Malone, also sat down on the talk show. But Nwodim’s Warwick seemed to be bored by the guests and said, “I’m sick and tired of interviewing people who aren’t icons.” She then welcomed the real Dionne Warwick onto the show.

“Let me ask you something,” Nwodim says after Warwick takes a seat. “Dionne, why are you perfect?” The 80-year-old singer replied, “My darling, I’m not perfect. I’m just very, very good.” The duo then sang a duet of Warwick’s 1966 track “What The World Needs Now Is Love.”

Warwick thanked SNL for inviting her to the show afterward.

“I had fun at @nbcsnl,” she tweeted. “Thank you to @eggy_boom (ME [laughing emoji]), @Punkiejohnson (as @BrittaniWarrick), and to the writers, cast, and crew. I had a wonderful time with you all.”

You can watch the sketch in the video above.

‘SNL’ Tried To Figure Out Why On Earth Ice Cube Won’t Get Vaccinated

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Last week, it was revealed that Ice Cube is not vaccinated. And he has no intention of doing so. He even walked away from a comedy movie, Oh Hell No, opposite Jack Black, which would have netted him both $9 million and a winter shoot in Hawaii. What is he thinking? On this weekend’s Kieran Culkin-hosted SNL, the show’s writing room hazarded a guess as to why.

During Weekend Update, Keenan Thompson swung by as the rap legend and movie star to explain to co-anchor Michael Che why on earth he, like Emilio Estevez, is turning down easy money and paid vacations by refusing to take an FDA-approved vaccine to protect himself from a highly transmissible and deadly virus.

“Hey look, man. I’d just rather be myself than take that vaccine, like you other three billion bozos,” Thompson’s Cube replied. When Che pointed out that he’d “lost” a good gig, Cube disagreed. “Not my loss, your loss. Oh Hell No was going to feature the greatest comedy duo of all time: Ice Cube, Jack Black,” he said. “The comedy chemistry, man. You know what I’m saying?”

He then rattled off a list of all the movies we won’t be getting because Cube won’t take some world-saving medication, from a fourth Barbershop, to a Friday prequel (Thursday, natch), to an M. Night Shyamalan twist-a-thon called Uh Oh, Twist Comin’, which has its own novel twist.

Throughout, Thompson’s Cube avoids the question: Why won’t he get vaccinated. But Che had a theory. “So you’re scared of needles, right?” he asked him, to which Cube replied with a sheepish affirmative.

You can watch the sketch in the video above.

Taylor Swift And Saweetie Are Set To Perform On ‘Saturday Night Live’ In November

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Taylor Swift 2021
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So far, it’s been a big day in Saturday Night Live musical guest news. This morning, Ed Sheeran revealed that he will be able to perform on the show as planned following his positive COVID test. Now, not only has SNL confirmed the news, but they’ve also revealed their next two musical guests after Sheeran: Taylor Swift and Saweetie.

Swift will guest on the November 13 episode hosted by Jonathan Majors, while Saweetie will perform on the Simu Liu-hosted episode on November 20.

This will be Saweetie’s first time on the program. As for Swift, she’s an SNL veteran. Her first stint as musical guest came in 2009, and her upcoming performance will be her fourth. In her second 2009 episode, Swift had the rare honor of serving most as host and musical guest.

Beyond SNL, both Swift and Saweetie have been thriving lately. Swift is fresh off her first performance at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, where she was on hand to induct Carole King. As for Saweetie, she recently had her own McDonald’s meal and her Netflix special Sex: Unzipped premiered just a few days ago.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Young Thug Brings ‘Punk’ To ‘SNL’ With Electric Performances Of ‘Tick Tock’ And ‘Love You More’

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The music world is currently enjoying Young Thug’s second album Punk as the rapper released it on Friday. He first announced the project two years ago, which came less than a week after he released his debut So Much Fun. After previewing songs at Miami’s Rolling Loud festival and during his NPR Tiny Desk, the rapper released Punk with just a slight delay. To further promote the project, Young Thug brought his talents to Saturday Night Live for a pair of electric performances.

Thug started the night with a brief performance of “Tick Tock,” the promotional single the rapper released prior to Punk. It came with the presence of a live band that featured Travis Barker on drums who ended it with an energetic drum solo. Later on in the night, Thug returned to the stage to perform “Love You More” with Gunna as well as Nate Ruess from the bands Fun and The Format. Travis Barker was also on drums for this performance while Ruess covered the song’s hook and Gunna delivered a verse of his own.

Altogether, Punk presents 20 songs and additional appearances from Drake, Future, J. Cole, Travis Scott, Gunna, Doja Cat, T-Shyne, Bslime, Post Malone, ASAP Rocky, Lil Double 0, and Jeff Bashker.

You can watch the performances in the videos above.

Punk is out now via 300 Entertainment/Atlantic Records. Get it here.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Machine Gun Kelly Plots His Revenge On Pete Davidson For His ‘SNL’ Impression

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This past weekend’s Kim Kardashian-hosted episode of Saturday Night Live was eventful. A major part of that was due to references to Kardashian’s famous connections, like when she joked about her Kanye West divorce in the opening monologue. The sketch in which she played her sister Kourtney in a judge TV show called The People’s Kourt was a goldmine for cultural references and connections, even outside of Kardashian’s realm.

For example, there was a scene where Pete Davidson impersonated his good friend (and recent SNL musical guest) Machine Gun Kelly. In the sketch, Davidson and Chloe Fineman (playing Megan Fox) poke fun at Kelly and Fox’s frequent and intense PDA with a tongue-entwining kissing display.

Naturally, Kelly caught wind of the sketch and started plotting his revenge. In a tweet tagging Saturday Night Live, Kelly re-shared a clip of Davidson’s impression and wrote, “i think it’s time for me to come on the show as Pete.”

Meanwhile, a month ago, Davidson revisited a moment from Kelly’s aforementioned SNL appearance, when he and Kelly fell off the stage together during the episode’s closing credits. Davidson explained to Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show that Kelly tried to pick him up, which, due to an injury Kelly was going with, didn’t exactly work out.

Kim Kardashian Turns Into A Judge And Rules On Family Drama On ‘SNL’

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With Saturday Night Live’s 47th season underway, Kim Kardashian assumed the duty of host for its most recent episode. She began the night with an entertaining monologue that was received well by audience members. Later on in the night, Kim returned to participate in a courtroom sketch that found her taking the role of a judge while simultaneously playing her sister, Kourtney Kardashian. In the sketch, Kim somewhat delivers decisions on family matters which includes Kylie Jenner’s “overdue” baby, Kendall Jenner’s lack of drama, and Kanye West’s tweets.

In the sketch, Kris Jenner and Khloe Kardashian appear as themselves while other SNL cast members and guests assumed the role of Kardashian family members and friends. Halsey appeared as Kendall Jenner, Melissa Villaseñor as Kylie Jenner, Heidi Gardner as Kim Kardashian, and Mikey Day played Travis Barker. Chris Redd also appeared as Kanye West, Pete Davidson as Machine Gun Kelly, and Chloe Fineman as Megan Fox. All in all, it was an enjoyable sketch that poked fun at the Kardashian family and their friends.

Kim’s monologue was highlighted by her making jokes about her and Kanye West’s divorce earlier this year. “I mean, I married the best rapper of all time. Not only that, he’s the richest Black man in America, a talented, legit genius, who gave me four incredible kids,” she says. “So when I divorced him, you have to know it came down to just one thing: his personality.”

You can watch The People’s Kourt sketch in the video above.

Kim Kardashian Joked About Her Divorce From Kanye West In Her ‘SNL’ Monologue

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We’re now into the second week of the 47th season of Saturday Night Live, and for this week’s episode, Kim Kardashian took on the hosting duties while Halsey arrived as the show’s musical guest. Kim, along with the rest of her family, are by far one of the most recognizable names in entertainment as they’ve amassed a huge following through several endeavors in the worlds of business, reality television, and more. Kardashian is no stranger to being on camera, so it’s no surprise that she delivered an entertaining and comical monologue to open the show.

One of the highlights came when she joked about her divorce from Kanye West. “I’ve been very blessed in this life, and I’m grateful for everything, honestly, all the ups, all the downs,” she said. “I mean, I married the best rapper of all time. Not only that, he’s the richest Black man in America, a talented, legit genius, who gave me four incredible kids. So when I divorced him, you have to know it came down to just one thing: his personality.”

She continued, “I know it sounds mean, but people keep telling me that comedy comes from truth. And if there’s one thing that I always strive to be, it’s genuine.”

Kardashian also joked about her family’s failed political campaigns, that being Kanye’s run for president and Caitlyn Jenner’s run for governor of California, as well as being “much more than that reference photo my sisters showed their plastic surgeons.”

You can watch the full monologue in the video above.