The SNL Host That Ruffled Feathers Even More Than Donald Trump

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When Donald Trump hosted "Saturday Night Live" in November 2015, it became a behind-the-scenes disaster, and executive producer Lorne Michaels faced a cast uprising in protest to the decision. According to author Susan Morrison's biography of Michaels, "Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live," many cast members felt alienated by the divisive politician's presence, and felt that having him on was a low-key endorsement of his candidacy. The episode itself was poorly reviewed, and there was a great deal of backlash that followed.

However, as contentious as Trump's appearance on the long-running sketch series was, it was Trump's former-BFF-turned-bitter enemy Elon Musk who proved to be an even more difficult, distracting, and divisive host, when he helmed an episode in May 2021. Former cast member Beck Bennett sat down for an interview with the Daily Beast's entertainment podcast, "The Last Laugh" in August 2025, and dished on the differences between Trump's controversial time hosting and Musk's disastrous involvement.

According to Bennett, Trump would take phone calls in the middle of rehearsals and read-throughs and didn't like taking notes or being corrected, even though he struggled to read from cue cards. However, the future president "was just kind of loafing around," Bennett recalled. "It was just a lot to have him there. But he wasn't particularly awful beyond that. The same could not be said for Musk. As the former "SNL" star recalled, the Tesla CEO and billionaire was "a lot more offensive" for a whole slew of reasons.

Elon Musk's hosting gig didn't go well, and many cast members didn't hold back when it came to slamming the decision. For Beck Bennett, Musk's demands to be involved with writing made him a much more challenging person to work with. "He had very odd ideas and he was very rude and less predictable to perform with," Bennett explained.

Musk's turbulent time on "Saturday Night Live" was brought back into the spotlight in August 2024, when cast member Bowen Yang made an appearance on "Watch What Happens Live!" Yang was asked about the worst host experience he's ever had and revealed that one host was so rude he made a cast member cry. While Yang didn't name names, fellow "SNL" star Chole Fineman put the mystery to rest and broke down the drama between herself and Musk.

Fineman took to TikTok in November 2024 and revealed she was the one Musk insulted. "You made I, Chloe Fineman burst into tears because I stayed up late writing a sketch. I was so excited ... I asked if you had any questions and you stared at me like you were firing me from Tesla and were like, 'It's not funny.'" Fineman recalled in the video (via The Hollywood Reporter). She said that the sketch wound up making it to air, but she was disappointed by his behavior. Given all the drama, it seems unlikely Musk will ever be invited back.