Elon Musk’s Upcoming ‘SNL’ Hosting Gig Met With Scorn: ‘Bafflingly Terrible’ Idea

NBC surprised pretty much everyone on Saturday with its announcement that Elon Musk would be hosting the next episode of “Saturday Night Live” on May 8, a decision that was met with a resounding, “No, no, no, no, no, no, no.”

Musk, who is known as the founder and CEO of both Tesla and SpaceX, will be the first non-actor or athlete to host the longrunning sketch comedy series since Donald Trump in the fall of 2016. At that time, Trump was still just a candidate for president and that decision was met with a lot of scrutiny.

Musk, who has come under fire over the past year for seemingly downplaying the severity COVID-19 pandemic (and has a history of making controversial statements), is being met with a similar level of disdain.

One Twitter user described the move as one of “desperation” and added, “Did NBC force Lorne Michaels to have Elon Musk host? Or threaten to replace SNL with ‘Apprentice’ reruns?”

Here’s a look at some of the reactions, most of which are negative. Though we should point out that not everyone was unhappy. Musk does have a pretty big following among the Bitcoin and Robinhood investor crowd.

Desperation.

Or did NBC force Lorne Michaels to have Elon Musk host? Or threaten to replace SNL with "Apprentice" reruns? https://t.co/v1P5FR70rW

— Ivey McClelland(she/her)❤❤❤❤ (@iveyjanette_207) April 24, 2021

Mr. Lorne Michaels sir…. pic.twitter.com/hixQftk6rj

— Ezra (@greenyad81) April 24, 2021

A movie in which 1976 Lorne Michaels meets 2021 Lorne Michaels and decides to forget this whole TV comedy thing and become a funeral director.

— Dan (@cultureoflosing) April 24, 2021

Best decision Lorne Michaels ever made! pic.twitter.com/W2mfL1koZq

— Plain Jane??????UltraNuclearMAGA (@plainjane5555) April 24, 2021

Society has surpassed the need for Lorne Michaels contributions to TV comedy, please get some new faces in charge

— Brian (@dilfisland) April 24, 2021

Retire
Lorne
Michaels

— unstuck in time (@BillyPilgrim26) April 24, 2021

I thought Lorne Michaels had lost his touch for dark, absurdist comedy. I was so very wrong… https://t.co/yt2GieYYnE

— Michael Karp (@d8d8_) April 24, 2021

Do we know Lorne Michaels whereabouts on January 6, 2021?

— Dan (@cultureoflosing) April 24, 2021

No, no, no, no, no, no, no. https://t.co/LL3w67Zzsf

— Eric Goldman (@TheEricGoldman) April 24, 2021

SNL is, I’m sure, regretting the choice to have Elon Musk host more and more with each and every tweet you guys are firing off.

— Sonny Bunch (@SonnyBunch) April 24, 2021

SNL getting Elon Musk to host a show is bafflingly terrible. Just gross.

— ????? is set for september (@cinema_gay) April 24, 2021

Musk’s episode will have Miley Cyrus as the musical guest. This will be her sixth time in that capacity.

It’s been a big year for first-time hosts. Along with Musk, “SNL’s” other rookie emcees include John Krasinski, Dan Levy, Regina King, Nick Jonas, Rege-Jean Page, Daniel Kaluuya and Carey Mulligan.