Dua Lipa and the 'SNL' writers didn't let a certain gun-toting, dog-shooting politician off the hook ... and instead made Gov. Kristi Noem the punchline to kick off the show.
The singer was the host and musical act Saturday night, and shouted out her new album "Radical Optimism" during her monologue. Dua explained the album title refers to "looking on the bright side of any situation."
She proceeded to offer some examples with help from cast members in the audience, which is when Heidi Gardner stood up in a MAGA hat and said, "Hi, I'm South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem" ... opening the door for Dua to cut her off quickly.
Mike Myers returned to the spotlight for a rare public appearance this weekend ... but folks had to do a double take, 'cause nobody could recognize him with his new hair color.
The actor stepped out Saturday for the 49th AFI Life Achievement Award Gala in L.A. -- where Nicole Kidman was being honored -- which marked his first time at a public event in about a year.
Mike looked unrecognizable with short white hair -- but was rocking it proudly as he spoke onstage at one point ... and posing for tons of pics before heading inside, all smiles.
President Joe Biden put on his comedy hat at the White House Correspondents' Association's annual dinner Saturday – throwing a major barb at Donald Trump for standing trial over a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.
As the night's featured guest, Joe strolled up to the podium for his speech at the Washington Hilton in D.C. before a packed crowd of journalists, government officials and Hollywood stars to celebrate the free press.
Right from the get-go, Joe poked fun at his chief rival and presumptive Republican 2024 presidential nominee – Trump – while first tackling the age issue saddling both candidates.
Caitlin Clark doesn't mind packed arenas, zone defenses or contested shots ... but she admitted Wednesday there is one thing that terrifies her -- "Saturday Night Live" cameras!!
The 22-year-old met with reporters in Indiana for the first time since the Fever picked her in Monday night's WNBA Draft ... and amid questions about her game and her future, someone just had to ask about her hilarious appearance on 'SNL' over the weekend.
Clark revealed that while she looked calm and cool on the outside -- she was anything but that on the inside ... saying, "I was terrified."
"I was so nervous," she said. "My heart was about to explode out of my chest."
Of course, Clark -- as she does so often on the hardwood -- came through in the clutch despite the nerves ... and delivered funny line after funny line in her four-minute cameo with Michael Che and Colin Jost on Weekend Update.
She roasted Che for making fun of women's sports ... and then made him read some jokes about himself that she said on the show that she "wrote."
Clark revealed Wednesday she didn't actually pen them herself -- "I'm not that funny," she quipped -- but she was pleased nonetheless with how it all turned out.
"It was good," she said. "It was a good platform for women's sports. Everybody loved it."
As for if we'll see her on the show again -- she said she'd love to make another appearance -- although don't count on her hosting anytime soon, 'cause she made it clear that'd just be too nerve-racking for her right now!
La gran Caitlin Clark dejó a todos boquiabiertos en 'SNL', dando cátedra a Michael Che por menospreciar el baloncesto femenino.
La guardia de Iowa se unió a Che y Colin Jost para el Weekend Update, y nada más al inicio, MC bromeó diciendo que Caitlin iba a cambiar su camiseta por un delantal.
¡Mira el clip, porque al final Caitlin le enseña a Che quién manda!
Ryan Gosling continued his tradition of breaking character on 'SNL' ... and this time, the entire cast had trouble keeping it together.
Ryan hosted 'SNL' for the third time Saturday ... and just like his previous visits, he struggled to maintain his composure during most of the sketches -- much to the delight of the audience.
The cold open reunited Gosling with Kate McKinnon for the 3rd installment of their infamous "Close Encounters" skit ... where the "Barbie" actor could not keep from laughing as Kate demonstrated how "aliens" had observed Ryan's character's privates during their alleged abduction.
Ryan Gosling continuó su tradición de romper el personaje en ‘SNL’... y en esta ocasión, todo el elenco tuvo problemas para mantener la compostura.
Ryan fue anfitrión de ‘SNL’ por tercera vez el sábado... y al igual que en sus visitas anteriores, luchó por mantener la compostura durante la mayoría de los sketches-para deleite del público.
La apertura en frío reunió a Gosling con Kate McKinnon para la 3.ª entrega de su infame sketch “Encuentros cercanos”… donde el actor de “Barbie” no pudo evitar reírse mientras Kate demostraba cómo los “alienígenas” habían observado las partes íntimas del personaje de Ryan durante su supuesta abducción.
The great Caitlin Clark brought the house down on 'SNL,' schooling Michael Che for pooh-poohing women's basketball.
The Iowa guard joined Che and Colin Jost for Weekend Update, and right out of the gate, MC joked Caitlin was going to trade in her jersey for an apron.
Well, watch the clip, because at the end Caitlin shows Che who's boss!
Somebody recently suggested that "Saturday Night Live" has no hot women among its cast members -- but a couple female staffers care to differ ... albeit, very jokingly.
TikToker Jahelis posted a video that has since made the rounds -- and it's all over a claim she makes that the famed sketch comedy show really doesn't hire conventionally attractive women ... theorizing it's because people refuse to accept the fact hot women can also be funny.
She specifically called out current 'SNL' cast member Heidi Gardner as an example ... saying the 40-year-old comedian is always forced to play the dumb blonde character, even though -- in her opinion -- HG isn't really attractive ... but is probably the best they have in the lineup.
Ramy Youssef se puso político en su monólogo de apertura en "Saturday Night Live", pidiéndole a Dios que libere a Palestina, así como a los rehenes israelíes.
El cómico abordó el conflicto el sábado, contando una anécdota con dos amigos suyos que le pidieron que incluyera sus luchas en sus oraciones.
Un amigo le pidió a Dios que le ayudara a recuperar la custodia de su perro de manos de su ex novia, mientras que otro le pidió que rezara por su familia en Gaza.
Ramy Youssef got political for his opening monologue on "Saturday Night Live" ... asking God to free Palestine, as well as the Israeli hostages.
The comedian touched on the conflict Saturday, recounting an anecdote involving 2 of his friends ... who asked him to work their struggles into his prayers.
One pal asked him to ask God to help him win back custody of his dog from his ex-girlfriend -- whereas another asked Ramy to pray for his family in Gaza.
Dana Carvey wants to say sorry over an old 'SNL' skit that saw Sharon Stone stripping on the set -- but funny enough ... Sharon says no apology is needed, 'cause she's not trippin'.
The comedian and his podcast cohost, David Spade, were hosting the actress on their show 'Fly On the Wall' and they were recapping when SS hosted on 'SNL' way back in 1992 ... this on the heels of "Basic Instinct" being released in theaters and taking the country by storm.
In particular, they revisited this one controversial skit called the "Airport Security Sketch" -- where DC played an Indian security guard who kept ordering Sharon to remove one piece of clothing at a time ... because she kept setting off the security buzzer.
Dana has regrets about that ... saying that while Sharon was cool about it back then, they'd probably get "arrested" for that scene nowadays. Spade even chimed in, saying it was offensive.
But, Sharon made it clear that an apology wasn't warranted ... adding there's a big difference between a misdemeanor and a felony -- and that back in '92, they were all "committing misdemeanors," thinking it wasn't a big deal at all.
Sharon adds she had other things to deal with at the time ... and was totally fine being the butt of the joke 'cause she thought it was funny.
She also says people's attitudes about this sort of stuff nowadays are weird and precious ... with people spending too much time alone, and not knowing how to be funny or intimate with each other anymore. In other words, she thinks PC culture is alive and well in 2024.
It's an interesting conversation for sure ... basically, Sharon is okay with the humor from the old days, even though some today might perhaps be offended on her behalf.
As everyone expected, Sen. Katie Britt was roasted in the 'SNL' cold open, but the surprise was Scarlett Johansson making a cameo to fill the role, and nailing the hilarious send-up of Britt's State of the Union response.
ICYMI .. the junior Alabama Senator went viral after her GOP response to President Biden's Thursday night SOTU address. The speech -- delivered from her kitchen for some reason -- struck most as oddly performative.
Scarlett still managed to take it over the top, saying, "I’ll be performing an original monologue called ‘This country is hell.’ You see, I’m not just a senator. I’m a wife, a mother and the craziest bitch in the Target parking lot.”
She also perfectly mocked Sen. Britt's facial expressions, hand movements and even some questionable fact-checking with lines like ... "I’m going to do a pivot out of nowhere into a shockingly violent story about sex trafficking. Rest assured, every detail about it is real except the year, where it took place, and who was president when it happened.”
Fox News
On Thursday night, the Senator shared a story of a woman she met in Texas who told her about being sex trafficked by the cartels. While Britt blamed President Biden’s border policies, the Washington Post reported the woman’s experiences took place in Mexico during President George W. Bush's administration.
One of Scarlett's best lines in the skit imitated the QVC host tone of Sen. Britt's speech -- out of nowhere, she started hawking the diamond cross necklace she was wearing, saying, "Goes with anything, and you can wear it from da’ church to da’ club.”
As you know, Scarlett is married to 'SNL' cast member Colin Jost -- so, yeah, this might be a bit of nepotism ... but, for once, no one seems too upset about it. Well, except maybe Sen. Britt.
A "Saturday Night Live" comedy trio is taking credit for Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's romance -- but only if it goes the distance ... otherwise, they want nothing to do with it.
The topic of Traylor kickstarted when comics Ben Marshall, John Higgins, and Martin Herlihy -- who make up Please Don't Destroy on 'SNL' -- spilled the beans on working with Tay Tay.
Mike Birbiglia’s Working It Out
They told host Mike Birbiglia on the 'Working It Out' podcast the star told them she had watched Travis' 'SNL' episode before they first met and she liked what she saw.
Ben added that Taylor told them she thought Travis seemed super funny in the clip ... saying that it was in that moment that they kinda, sorta brought them together.
However, Ben shared some serious reservations about taking credit for the Traylor romance -- only 'cause of Taylor's army of devoted fans, the Swifties.
TMZ Studios
He said that if things were to ever go south between the pair ... they'd be the ones getting roasted over the coals for it.
Travis, of course, got in on the action hosting 'SNL' in March 2023 -- about six months before he went public with Taylor. It's interesting ... they're saying this is when Travis first fell onto Taylor's radar -- but whether she was actually interested or not ... well, anyone's guess.
Travis also appeared in a pre-taped sketch written by Please Don't Destroy, where he played a hilarious self-defense instructor named Kurt Lightning ... so yeah, they have 'SNL' history.
Drew Barrymore's all for leaving the underwear in the dresser drawer ... but she says she's gotta keep her head on a swivel -- 'cause her daughter's got a penchant for pantsing.
The actress/talk show host revealed one of her daughters loves to pull her pants down around the house as a prank ... on account of DB walking around without undies on all the time.
Drew was sitting with her cohost Ross Mathews, 'SNL' star Chloe Fineman and singer Boy George when the question of going commando came up ... and Drew was first to admit she's all for feeling free down there.
And, DB's saying she doesn't just do it if she hasn't gotten to the laundry in a bit ... saying she actually enjoys dressing sans underwear -- a choice so well-known in her household it leads to the pantsing pranks.
Barrymore was quick to add her daughter is only doing it as a joke, and she said she's made it clear to her kid it's only an around-the-house kinda gag -- nothing for mixed company or the outside world.
Drew's got 2 kids with her ex-husband Will Kopelman BTW ... 11-year-old Olive and 9-year-old Frankie -- but, she didn't reveal which one's the little prankster.
Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard
She's not even the first celeb this week to cop to domestic nudity -- Bradley Cooper revealed he's always fully exposed at home, and even chats with his daughter while he's on the toilet and she's in the tub.
TMZ Studios
Anyhoo, watch your back, Drew -- or your backside might end up hanging out for all to see!
Chris Burke, who has Down Syndrome, is defending Shane Gillis over the comedian's polarizing monologue on "Saturday Night Live" ... he's got no issues with Shane making Down Syndrome jokes.
The "Life Goes On" star tells TMZ ... people with Down Syndrome are just like everybody else and shouldn't be excluded from being joked about by comedians.
Chris, the first actor with Down Syndrome to star in a TV series, says it would actually be more offensive for comedians to exclude people with Down Syndrome from being the subjects of jokes.
Shane spent the majority of his 8-minute monologue poking fun at his family ... including a niece who has Down Syndrome ... and he mostly glossed over the 2019 scandal that got him fired from 'SNL.'
SEPTEMBER 2018
Matt and Shane's Secret Podcast
Chris says folks shouldn't pass judgment on Shane here because no one knows how he dealt and coped with having a niece with Down Syndrome. As a result, Chris feels Shane isn't making these jokes out of ignorance.
TMZ Studios
In fact, Shane's jokes kinda jibe with what Chris is saying.
A Fair One
While some people were naturally turned off by Shane, Chris sees some positives.
At the very least, he says Shane's monologue helped start a conversation about Down Syndrome and how people living with the condition are normal folks who can experience all aspects of life, including being joked about.
