Saturday Night Live cast member Chloe Fineman has revealed that Elon Musk made her “burst into tears” when he hosted the show back in May 2021, rekindling tensions after Musk recently labeled the long-running sketch show as a “dying” art. In a now-deleted TikTok video, Fineman addressed Musk’s comments, accusing him of contributing to a toxic atmosphere during his hosting gig.
“I’m gonna come out and say at long last that I’m the cast member that he made cry,” Fineman said, referencing her co-star Bowen Yang’s previous claim that Musk had made “multiple cast members cry” by rejecting their sketch ideas.
Fineman recounted her experience, explaining that she’d stayed up all night writing a sketch specifically for Musk’s performance, only to be met with an icy reception. Musk allegedly “stared” at her and dismissed her work, reportedly telling her, “It’s not funny,” and flipping through her script, adding, “I didn’t laugh once, not one time.”
Fineman ultimately managed to get the sketch into the show, even praising Musk’s performance afterward, but she expressed lingering resentment over his behavior. “Have a little manners here, sir,” she added, implying that Musk’s criticisms cut deeply after her hard work.
This resurfaced animosity follows Musk’s recent critique of SNL after the show featured Dana Carvey in a sketch lampooning Musk’s public endorsement of President-elect Donald Trump following his victory over Kamala Harris. Carvey, who has often played Joe Biden on the show, appeared in a cold open sketch as Musk, poking fun at the billionaire’s support for Trump in the election.
In response, Musk took to his social media platform, X, calling SNL “out of touch with reality” and criticizing the show’s efforts to prop up Harris before the election, which he claimed only backfired.
Musk’s swipe was directed not only at the show’s fading comedic relevance but also at what he implied was a political agenda. Referencing Harris’s recent appearance on SNL just before Election Day, Musk argued that the show’s attempt to “cheat the equal airtime requirements” only hurt her campaign more. The comment references recent scrutiny from an FCC commissioner, who suggested that Harris’s appearance might have breached Equal Time regulations.
This latest spat between SNL and Musk highlights the ever-widening gap between the billionaire’s unconventional public persona and the liberal-leaning show’s increasingly pointed political satire.
While Musk’s hosting gig brought in significant viewership at the time, it was met with mixed reactions from the cast, many of whom voiced their disapproval of the controversial tech mogul even before he arrived on set.
