‘SNL’ Boycott Policy Revealed Ahead of Elon Musk Hosting Appearance

When Saturday Night Live finally returns with a new episode on May 8, Telsa CEO and SpaceX founder Elon Musk will host, a decision that has been widely criticized because of Musk’s controversial opinions on Twitter. Cast members who do not approve of Musk could boycott the episode, although none reportedly plan to. That is surprising since two cast members were caught criticizing Musk on social media.

On Friday, a source told Page Six that Saturday Night Live creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels will allow a cast member to bow out of the show if they chose to. “Speaking historically, if a cast member has been that unhappy, they don’t have to do it,” the source said. Michaels “won’t ever make them do anything they don’t want to do.” Another source for The Wrap confirmed there is an “unwritten” rule that a cast member can sit out an episode if they do not approve of the host. However, the source said no member of the cast plan to do so when Musk hosts.

Although it looks like everyone will be attending the Musk-hosted episode, at least two cast members shared criticisms of Musk on social media after NBC announced he would host last week. On Sunday, Bowen Yang published a photo on Instagram of Musk’s tweet that read, “Let’s find out how live Saturday Night Live really is.” In response, Yang asked, “What the f— does that even mean?” Later, Aidy Bryant retweeted Sen. Bernie Sanders’ tweet pointing out that the “50 wealthiest people in America today own more wealth than the bottom half of our people.” Both Yang’s Instagram post and Bryant’s retweet were deleted.

Musk is a polarizing figure due to his controversial statements on Twitter and in podcast appearances. He has an estimated $177 billion fortune, according to Forbes. During the coronavirus pandemic, he was slammed for sharing misinformation. Musk even questioned the vaccines until April 7, when he finally endorsed them. In an interview earlier this week, he said he hoped to send manned missions to Mars but warned that “a bunch of people will probably die” when humans finally get to the planet. Musk also has no experience with acting, only appearing in movies and TV shows as himself.

SNL will return with Musk hosting and Miley Cyrus as the musical guest on May 8 at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC. This will be Cyrus’ fourth time as only a musical guest, but her seventh time on the show overall. She hosted once in 2011 and served as both host and musical guest in 2013 and 2015. Past episodes of the series are available to stream on Hulu.

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