'SNL': Kate McKinnon portrays Rudy Giuliani and shades Jeffrey Toobin in skit, Internet says she 'killed it'
Adele hosted this week’s episode of ‘Saturday Night Live’ with H.E.R as the musical guest. The episode, as expected, recreated the October 22 debate between President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden was recreated in the cold open with the usual cast reprising their roles – Alec Baldwin as Trump and Jim Carrey as Joe Biden. Maya Rudolph played the moderator Kristen Welker.
Apart from the usual debate jokes, the cold open also featured Kate McKinnon as Rudy Giuliani. This week, Giuliani was in the news because of appearing in a much-talked-about scene in the Sacha Baron Cohen film ‘Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan’. It includes a moment where he can be seen lying on the bed and his hands seem to be inside his pants. However, speaking on his weekly radio program on WABC on Wednesday, October 21 afternoon, Giuliani called the scene “a hit job.” He said, as reported by ABC News, “I am tucking my shirt in, I assure you, that’s all that I was doing.” He said he realized that it was a set up when the woman asked whether he wanted a massage.
So, McKinnon’s Giuliani was introduced with his back to the audience and it seemed that he was fiddling with something. As he turned towards the audience, McKinnon’s Giuliani said, “It’s not what it looks like. My microphone was stuck… on my b***s”. He continued, “Is this another Borat? You gotta tell me if it's a Borat.”
‘SNL’ also touched upon another incident that made the headlines this week. As reported by MEAWW, on Monday, October 19, news outlets reported that the New Yorker suspended reporter and writer Jeffrey Toobin after he allegedly exposed himself on a Zoom call between magazine colleagues and employees of WNYC radio, a nonprofit public radio station in New York. The incident reportedly took place last week, although the exact day has not been determined. In a press statement, Toobin said, “I made an embarrassingly stupid mistake, believing I was off-camera. I apologize to my wife, family, friends, and co-workers. I believed I was not visible on Zoom. I thought no one on the Zoom call could see me. I thought I had muted the Zoom video.”
This incident was referenced in a skit. In the skit, McKinnon played a fortune teller, who is visited by a group of friends -- Bowen Yang, Heidi Gardner, Adele and Ego Nwodim. At one point in the skit, McKinnon’s fortune teller says, “Who here is Tiffany Toobin? I’m seeing your father. And he’s on a Zoom. And his w****r is out on Zoom.” When Gardner’s Tiffany asked why is it so, McKinnon’s character said, “I don’t know. But your father is definitely on it. And his w****r is definitely out. And it’s not a great w****r.” Even on ‘Weekend Update’, Michael Che made a snide remark on the incident.
Twitter was talking about these impersonations as well. One commented, “This skit was going slow until that Jeffrey Toobin joke.” Another said, “#SNL Wow did not expect them to take shots at Jeffrey Toobin.” A fan commented, “Man, that opening skit with @JimCarrey as Joe Biden was so hilarious. He accurately captured his behavior and appearance in my opinion. Also, Kate McKinnon was so freaky as Rudy Giuliani, it was very funny.” One said, “Kate McKinnon impersonating Rudy Giuliani on SNL was everything I never knew I needed. I love that woman.” Another said, “Kate McKinnon as Rudy Guiliani?! THE RANGE this woman has with her characters are beyond. KILLED IT!”
In the beginning of the show, Adele gave a monologue that touched upon the most talked about topics – her new album and her weight loss. The Grammy winner said, “I know that that there has been a lot of chatter about me just being the host. I have seen all of it. Why isn't she the musical guest and stuff like that? There are a couple of reasons. My album is not finished. I also am too scared to do both.” She added, “I would rather just put on some wigs – and this is all mine by the way (referring to her hair) – have a glass of wine or six and just see what happens.” She further said, “I know I look really, really different since you last saw me. But actually, because of all the Covid restrictions and the travel bans, I had to travel light and I could only bring half of me. And this is the half I chose.”
‘Saturday Night Live’ airs on NBC at 11.30 pm ET.