If Saturday Night Live was going for controversy when tapping Elon Musk, then this is already a smashing success.
Over the weekend, SNL announced Musk as the host and Miley Cyrus as the musical guest for the May 8 show. The SpaceX and Tesla CEO responded by tweeting, "Let’s find out just how live Saturday Night Live really is"—complete with a purple devil emoji.
Cast member Bowen Yang didn't hold back his disdain (h/t Yahoo). "What the f–k does that even mean?" Yang posted in his Instagram Story alongside a screenshot of Musk's tweet.
Fellow cast member Aidy Bryant reposted a tweet from Bernie Sanders which read: "The 50 wealthiest people in America today own more wealth than the bottom half of our people" in an apparent jab at Musk's status as one of the richest person in the world.
Both Yang and Bryant have since deleted their posts.
Musk is a controversial choice given his propensity to spread COVID-19 misinformation, publicly calling a Thai cave rescuer a pedophile, getting scrutiny from the SEC over multiple statements about his companies, admitting he tried to "Destroy" a Tesla whistleblower, as well as various other rants and vendettas too numerous to count.
SNL's Season 46 is nearing a close. The last episode came April 10 with Carey Mulligan hosting and Kid Cudi performing. This season's impressive host and musical roster can be seen in full here.
Musk, 49, is also in the news because of his admission that "a bunch of people will probably die" as SpaceX begins its voyages to Mars:
Elon Musk admits "a bunch of people will probably die" during his #SpaceX's initial voyages to Mars :
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) April 26, 2021
"You may not come back alive, but it's a glorious adventure … We don't want to make anyone go, so… Volunteers only."
: https://t.co/Ood3UGugHB pic.twitter.com/SaA3EQAHzK
Elon Musk and Peter Diamandis LIVE on $100M XPRIZE Carbon Removal https://t.co/M2ruxS0Zxt
— XPRIZE (@xprize) April 22, 2021
Saturday Night Live airs Saturday nights (duh) beginning at 11:30 p.m. EST on NBC.
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