By Rebecca Elliott and John Jurgensen
Elon Musk kicked off his "Saturday Night Live" hosting debut
finding a new target to mock: himself.
Mr. Musk, known for his awkwardness at times, also said he was
the first person with Asperger's syndrome to host the show -- "or
at least the first to admit it." It's the first time he has
publicly said he has the condition.
The chief executive of Tesla Inc. and Space Exploration
Technologies Corp., or SpaceX -- and who is known for sometimes
taking swipes at rivals on Twitter -- issued a faux apology as part
of the host's customary opening monologue. "To anyone I've
offended, I just want to say, I reinvented electric cars, and I'm
sending people to Mars in a rocket ship," Mr. Musk said. "Did you
think I was also going to be a chill, normal dude?"
The early cracks stopped short of some of Mr. Musk's edgier
comments. In the past, he has taken swipes at the Securities and
Exchange Commission and billionaire Jeff Bezos.
Mr. Musk, who has a history of comments that move markets, had a
similar effect on "SNL," when he appeared in its satirical news
segment, Weekend Update, as "Lloyd Ostertag, financial expert," who
called himself "The Dogefather."
After he expounded on the merits of the cryptocurrency using
jargon, cast members Michael Che and Colin Jost repeatedly asked
him to explain, "What is dogecoin?" Pressed by Mr. Che, Mr. Musk
eventually said, "Yeah, it's a hustle."
The price of dogecoin, created in 2013 as a joke, surged as high
as 74 cents early Saturday in advance of Mr. Musk's "SNL"
appearance, spurring hope among investors that it would cross $1
for the first time. The price wobbled between 49 cents and 69 cents
for most of the broadcast, according to CoinDesk.
When the show ended, dogecoin was trading around 52 cents,
putting its market value at about $72 billion -- greater than the
valuations of Kraft Heinz Co. Meanwhile, Robinhood, the online
trading app popular with individual investors, said on Twitter
during the program that it was experiencing issues with
cryptocurrency trading. Robinhood later tweeted that the issues
were resolved.
The stir created around the show since Mr. Musk was named as
host last month suggests that "SNL" may see a spike in TV ratings.
The show has drawn an average 9.2 million total viewers in its 46th
season, according to Nielsen data. NBC said Sunday that Mr. Musk's
episode tied for its third-highest rated telecast of the season,
behind Dave Chappelle in November and the season premiere hosted by
Chris Rock in October.
NBC sought to capitalize on Mr. Musk's global notoriety,
live-streaming the show for the first time internationally in more
than 100 countries.
In the run up to the show, which comes with a battery of sketch
writers, Mr. Musk turned to Twitter to crowdsource ideas for his
appearance from among his roughly 53 million followers. There the
live-comedy novice took some online ribbing from "SNL" cast member
Chris Redd for referring to a sketch as a "skit."
Maye Musk made an appearance in keeping with a show tradition of
bringing on cast members' mothers on the eve of Mother's Day. She
said that she hoped her gift wouldn't be the dogecoin her son has
often tweeted about. Mr. Musk said it was.
His appearance on "SNL" is Mr. Musk's latest excursion into pop
culture. His casting credits include a number of film and TV
cameos, such as "Iron Man 2" and episodes of "The Big Bang Theory,"
"South Park" and "The Simpsons."
Mr. Musk is one of a small cadre of business people to host
"SNL," which typically taps people from the entertainment world for
the coveted role. The late George Steinbrenner, owner of the New
York Yankees, hosted in 1990, and Ralph Nader, the high-profile
consumer crusader, hosted in 1977. Publishing magnate Steve Forbes
did the honors in 1996, shortly after giving up his pursuit of the
Republican presidential nomination. Donald Trump hosted in 2004,
when he was early in his tenure on the NBC reality series "The
Apprentice," and again in 2015, when he was vying to be the
Republican candidate for the White House.
Unlike some hosts who play a more passive role in the comedy,
Mr. Musk appeared in the majority of live sketches and prerecorded
bits. In one segment, Mr. Musk, who longs to colonize Mars, issued
commands to a Mars mission that relied on a slacker character
played by Pete Davidson. Mr. Musk also showed up in the sketch,
"Gen Z Hospital," playing a bearded doctor and managing to deliver
youth slang with a straight face. He also dressed up as the
Nintendo character Wario for a parody of anti-Italian bias in the
Super Mario videogames. In another segment, set in the Old West,
his character talked about electric and self-driving horses and
attacking the enemy through an underground tunnel, a reference to
Tesla cars and his tunnel-digging venture, the Boring Co.
In his opening monologue, Mr. Musk made light of the name of his
youngest child, X Æ A-Xii. "It's pronounced cat running across the
keyboard," he said.
He also joked about a now-infamous incident from a few years
ago. "A lot of times people are reduced to the dumbest thing they
ever did, like one time I smoked weed on Joe Rogan's podcast," Mr.
Musk said. "And now all the time I hear, 'Elon Musk, all he ever
does is smoke weed on podcasts, ' like I go from podcast to
podcast, lighting up joints."
In several segments, Mr. Musk played off his socially awkward
side, in keeping with his statement that he has Asperger's. The
condition is a form of autism that affects how a person makes sense
of the world, processes information and relates to others.
Mr. Musk often has used his large public persona to serve as a
way to promote his company's products, with Tesla forgoing the cost
of TV commercials used heavily by many rival car makers. In
parallel with the "SNL" appearance, Tesla showed off in New York
its coming pickup truck, unveiled more than a year ago with
somewhat botched showmanship. Some rival electric-vehicle makers
ran ads during the show.
Paul Vigna contributed to this article.
Write to Rebecca Elliott at rebecca.elliott@wsj.com and John
Jurgensen at john.jurgensen@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 09, 2021 17:18 ET (21:18 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA)
Historical Stock Chart
From Aug 2024 to Sep 2024
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA)
Historical Stock Chart
From Sep 2023 to Sep 2024