‘Empire’s’ Taraji P. Henson to Host ‘SNL’ a Week After Michael Keaton’s Third Turn

Mumford & Sons and Carly Rae Jepsen will be their musical guests, respectively

Taraji P Henson Michael Keaton

Fox’s smash hit “Empire” is now officially everywhere — including other networks.

Taraji P. Henson, who plays breakout star Cookie on Lee Daniels‘ hip-hop soap opera, will make her “Saturday Night Live” hosting debut on Apr. 11 with musical guest Mumford & Sons.

A week earlier, Michael Keaton will host “SNL” for his third time, sharing Studio 8H with Carly Rae Jepsen, who is marking her own first appearance on the sketch comedy show. The Oscar nominee for “Birdman” will next star in the upcoming feature films “Spotlight” and “Minions.” Jepsen, who has sold more than 17 million singles worldwide of smash hit “Call Me Maybe,” is promoting her new chart-climber, “I Really Like You.”

Regarding Henson’s backstage companions, next month’s Mumford & Sons two song-performance will mark the band’s second turn on the show. This time, the guys will be plugging their third studio album “Wilder Mind,” which comes out on May 4.

Henson’s “Empire” just wrapped up a record-setting first season with a hugely watched finale. Speaking of strong ratings, “Saturday Night Live’s” 40th anniversary celebration “SNL 40” was a big hit for NBC last month.

This coming Saturday, Mar. 28, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson hosts “SNL” for his fourth time with musical guest George Ezra, who will make his own show debut.

Saturday Night Live” is produced in association with Broadway Video. The creator and executive producer is Lorne Michaels.

Comments