Will 'SNL' cast boycott Elon Musk-hosted episode? Show chief won't force anyone to appear against will: Source
Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk hosting ‘Saturday Night Live’ has been a somewhat controversial idea. Musk is set to helm the NBC show on May 8.
It was earlier reported that ‘Saturday Night Live’ cast members won’t be forced to appear alongside controversial billionaire Elon Musk when he hosts the show. An insider said, “Speaking historically, if a cast member has been that unhappy, they don’t have to do it. [‘SNL’ boss Lorne Michaels] won’t ever make them do anything they don’t want to do.”
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This came after Australian-born Chinese American actor, comedian, podcaster, and ‘SNL’ alum Bowen Yang asked online if Musk’s announcement was a joke. “What the f**k does this even mean,” Yang questioned in an Instagram Story. ‘SNL’ cast member Aidy Bryant also raised concerns about this decision, as did ‘SNL’ writer Andrew Dismukes.
But will the cast of 'SNL' boycott Elon Musk's upcoming episode?
The Wrap reported, sourcing an insider that none among the show’s cast plans to boycott the upcoming episode. If a cast member or writer was upset or uncomfortable performing with any host, executive producer Lorne Michaels would let them sit that one out, confirmed this insider. However, they added that in this case, “it sounds like no one is actually taking that option.”
That doesn’t mean the ‘SNL’ cast is pleased with Musk. On May 2, Musk tweeted asking: “Throwing out some skit ideas for SNL. What should I do?” adding “skit” ideas like “Irony Man – defeats villains using the power of irony,” and “Baby Shark & Shark Tank merge to form Baby Shark Tank.” ‘SNL’ cast member Chris Redd responded to this with a snarky, “First I’d call Em sketches.”
In an op-ed for the AV Club, Jesse Hassenger wrote about Musk’s part in ‘SNL’ and argued, “Musk is closer to the eccentric-moron Trump who hosted in 2004 than the aspiring-demagogue Trump who hosted in 2015. The difference has more to do with how the ecosystem of fame has shifted, establishing terrifying cults of personality around seemingly anyone with some manner of megaphone.”
“In practice, it’s unlikely that watching an off-putting man bumble through live sketch comedy, whether self-deprecating, self-promoting, or, most likely, a mix of the two, will serve as an Elon Musk conversion experience,” Hassenger said. “More sinister is the way that Musk can turn ‘Saturday Night Live’ into just another platform for his fans and his ‘content,’ whatever that may be.”
While Musk has a dedicated fanbase, he has not endeared himself to his critics with his 'eccentricities'. Last year, he dabbled in Covid-19 denialism when he said that "The coronavirus panic is dumb". He also sent a memo to SpaceX employees, underplaying the dangers of Covid-19. He told employees of the space transport company that they were far more likely to die from a car crash than Covid-19. He also said that, based on the evidence he had seen about Covid-19, he doesn’t think it’s “within the top 100 health risks in the United States.”
