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Tag: Devon Walker

  • Bad Bunny kicks off ‘SNL’ 51st season

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    “Saturday Night Live ” kicked off its 51st season with faces both fresh and familiar and a sketch mocking Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s presentation to generals earlier this week.Colin Jost played Hegseth, mocking the defense secretary’s remarks in which he said it’s “it’s tiring to look out at combat formations or really any formation and see fat troops” and said it was unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals at the Pentagon.Video above: Pumpkins or cowbell? ‘SNL’ alumni share favorite sketches”No fatties, no facial hair, no body hair. Just hot, shredded hairless men who are definitely not gay.,” Jost as Hegseth said. “Because this is serious, we are facing the greatest threat to freedom and democracy the world has ever known. And we all know what that threat is.””Late night TV,” James Austin Johnson playing President Donald Trump, burst in. “‘SNL’ 51 off to a rough start,” Johnson’s Trump said. “Seventeen new cast members and they got the update guy doing the open.”After a fanfare-filled 50th season celebrating the past, “Saturday Night Live” looks to the future with a cast that includes five new featured players. As for the high-wattage early hosts, none other than Bad Bunny kicked things off on Saturday.He quipped about criticism of his selection as the headliner of the Super Bowl halftime show, “I’m very happy. I’m very happy. And I think everyone is very happy about it,” he said, before showing a clips of Fox News hosts’ reactions spliced together to make their reaction sound positive.He addressed the crowd in Spanish, too, and ended the section, “If you didn’t understand what I just said, you have four months to learn,” Bad Bunny said.The music superstar is having what can only be described as an enormous week: he’s coming off a historic residency in Puerto Rico, and on Sunday was been announced as the Super Bowl halftime show headliner.His moment in the spotlight hasn’t come without some political discourse. The Puerto Rican artist has said one of the reasons his residency bypassed the continental U.S. was a concern that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials could target immigrants for deportation outside his shows. Some conservatives supportive of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown have criticized the halftime show pick as a result.Asked Friday by a podcaster whether ICE officials would be conducting enforcement at the Super Bowl, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said they would, because DHS “is responsible for keeping it safe.” She didn’t specify whether the officials would be conducting immigration enforcement or other law enforcement duties that are typical at the event.Video below: Dan Aykroyd on ‘SNL’ and ‘The Blues Brothers’ in 1989 interviewIn his second “SNL” hosting gig, Bad Bunny will be joined by musical guest Doja Cat, making her debut in that role.He’ll be followed in subsequent weeks by Amy Poehler and Sabrina Carpenter. All three were highlights of the 50th season celebrations, with Bad Bunny performing at the “SNL50: The Homecoming Concert ” and also serving as the final musical guest of the season.SNL alumna Poehler, in her second solo hosting gig, will front the Oct. 11 episode alongside first-time musical guest Role Model. Her episode will air 50 years to the day of the very first episode of “Saturday Night Live,” on Oct. 11, 1975.Carpenter, who was a major attraction of the anniversary celebrations, is pulling double duty as host and musical guest on Oct. 18.The revamped cast comes on the heels of several high-profile departures, including Ego Nwodim and Devon Walker. Ben Marshall, already an “SNL” writer, becomes a featured player, along with newcomers Tommy Brennan, Jeremy Culhane, Kam Patterson and Veronika Slowikowska.Nwodim, Walker, Emil Wakim and Michael Longfellow all confirmed last month on their social media accounts that they are leaving the show. Multiple news outlets reported that cast mainstay Heidi Gardner was also departing the show, but neither Gardner nor NBC has publicly confirmed.The show picked up 12 Emmys last month for its 50th season and anniversary programming, including an award for outstanding variety special.”I won this award for the first time 50 years ago, in 1975,” Michaels said, accepting the Emmy, adding that he didn’t dream of doing the same show for the next 50 years.

    “Saturday Night Live ” kicked off its 51st season with faces both fresh and familiar and a sketch mocking Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s presentation to generals earlier this week.

    Colin Jost played Hegseth, mocking the defense secretary’s remarks in which he said it’s “it’s tiring to look out at combat formations or really any formation and see fat troops” and said it was unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals at the Pentagon.

    Video above: Pumpkins or cowbell? ‘SNL’ alumni share favorite sketches

    “No fatties, no facial hair, no body hair. Just hot, shredded hairless men who are definitely not gay.,” Jost as Hegseth said. “Because this is serious, we are facing the greatest threat to freedom and democracy the world has ever known. And we all know what that threat is.”

    “Late night TV,” James Austin Johnson playing President Donald Trump, burst in.

    “‘SNL’ 51 off to a rough start,” Johnson’s Trump said. “Seventeen new cast members and they got the update guy doing the open.”

    After a fanfare-filled 50th season celebrating the past, “Saturday Night Live” looks to the future with a cast that includes five new featured players. As for the high-wattage early hosts, none other than Bad Bunny kicked things off on Saturday.

    He quipped about criticism of his selection as the headliner of the Super Bowl halftime show, “I’m very happy. I’m very happy. And I think everyone is very happy about it,” he said, before showing a clips of Fox News hosts’ reactions spliced together to make their reaction sound positive.

    He addressed the crowd in Spanish, too, and ended the section, “If you didn’t understand what I just said, you have four months to learn,” Bad Bunny said.

    The music superstar is having what can only be described as an enormous week: he’s coming off a historic residency in Puerto Rico, and on Sunday was been announced as the Super Bowl halftime show headliner.

    His moment in the spotlight hasn’t come without some political discourse. The Puerto Rican artist has said one of the reasons his residency bypassed the continental U.S. was a concern that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials could target immigrants for deportation outside his shows. Some conservatives supportive of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown have criticized the halftime show pick as a result.

    Asked Friday by a podcaster whether ICE officials would be conducting enforcement at the Super Bowl, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said they would, because DHS “is responsible for keeping it safe.” She didn’t specify whether the officials would be conducting immigration enforcement or other law enforcement duties that are typical at the event.

    Video below: Dan Aykroyd on ‘SNL’ and ‘The Blues Brothers’ in 1989 interview

    In his second “SNL” hosting gig, Bad Bunny will be joined by musical guest Doja Cat, making her debut in that role.

    He’ll be followed in subsequent weeks by Amy Poehler and Sabrina Carpenter. All three were highlights of the 50th season celebrations, with Bad Bunny performing at the “SNL50: The Homecoming Concert ” and also serving as the final musical guest of the season.

    SNL alumna Poehler, in her second solo hosting gig, will front the Oct. 11 episode alongside first-time musical guest Role Model. Her episode will air 50 years to the day of the very first episode of “Saturday Night Live,” on Oct. 11, 1975.

    Carpenter, who was a major attraction of the anniversary celebrations, is pulling double duty as host and musical guest on Oct. 18.

    The revamped cast comes on the heels of several high-profile departures, including Ego Nwodim and Devon Walker. Ben Marshall, already an “SNL” writer, becomes a featured player, along with newcomers Tommy Brennan, Jeremy Culhane, Kam Patterson and Veronika Slowikowska.

    Nwodim, Walker, Emil Wakim and Michael Longfellow all confirmed last month on their social media accounts that they are leaving the show. Multiple news outlets reported that cast mainstay Heidi Gardner was also departing the show, but neither Gardner nor NBC has publicly confirmed.

    The show picked up 12 Emmys last month for its 50th season and anniversary programming, including an award for outstanding variety special.

    “I won this award for the first time 50 years ago, in 1975,” Michaels said, accepting the Emmy, adding that he didn’t dream of doing the same show for the next 50 years.

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  • Devon Walker Says Leaving ‘SNL’ Was A Mutual Decision: “We Decided Together That It Was Time To Go Our Separate Ways”

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    While Devon Walker indicated earlier this week that Saturday Night Live fans are perhaps taking his and his fellow cast members’ departures harder than the actors themselves, the former repertory player revealed today the decision to leave was a mutual one.

    “The big question,” Walker began when asked by Rolling Stone in a new interview if his exit was by choice. “To be frank, I guess the best way I put it is like me and the show kind of looked at each other and we decided together that it was time to go our separate ways. I think I felt ready to leave the show, and I think the show felt ready to leave me.”

    He continued, “I was just ready to do something else. We both felt like it was time. This was such a big time commitment, and life commitment. There’s been a lot of life stuff that I feel like I’ve had to miss out on. And I felt ready to do a different version of my life. I think that me and the show are both ready to turn the page.”

    Elsewhere in the interview, Walker indicated he is currently exploring deals related to his music-themed comedy podcast My Favorite Lyrics and hopes to foray into dramatic television.

    Walker was the first SNL member to announce his departure ahead of Season 51 of the Lorne Michaels-led late-night sketch series, which returns Oct. 4. The actor, who joined in 2022 as a featured player and was promoted last season ahead of the show’s 50th anniversary, has impersonated the likes of Frank Ocean, Michael Strahan, Shannon Sharpe, Draymond Green and Eric Adams throughout his tenure.

    “Me and the show did three years together, and sometimes it was really cool,” he wrote on Instagram Monday. “Sometimes it was toxic as hell. But we did what we made the most of what it was, even amidst all of the dysfunction. We made a f—ed up lil family.”

    Just days later, Emil Wakim, Michael Longfellow and Heidi Gardner would also join Walker in exiting. As Michaels cleaned house, alumna Punkie Johnson commented: “WTF is happening.”

    Following an outpouring of fan support (and ire toward Michaels), Walker took to X in hopes of assuaging viewers’ intense reactions: “Yall acting like we died lol we just getting different jobs,” Walker said.

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    Natalie Oganesyan

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  • Taylor Swift’s Worlds Collide In SNL Season 49 Finale With Ex Jake Gyllenhaal Hosting & Bestie Sabrina Carpenter Performing! – Perez Hilton

    Taylor Swift’s Worlds Collide In SNL Season 49 Finale With Ex Jake Gyllenhaal Hosting & Bestie Sabrina Carpenter Performing! – Perez Hilton

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    We’ve come to the end of the road on season 49 of Saturday Night Live.

    Over the weekend, Taylor Swift‘s ex Jake Gyllenhaal took the Studio 8H stage to close out the 49th season of the sketch comedy show. And nooooo, he totallyyyyyy wasn’t salty that he was only one episode away from hosting the premiere of the 50th anniversary episode! Ha! He said in his opening monologue:

    “When you think of historic television seasons, the first number that pops into your head is 49. I mean, sure, one more episode and I would have been hosting the premiere of the 50th season, but who cares? [49] is a great number.”

    The Roadhouse star ex continued:

    “I know we’re all waiting for season 50, but, you know, you can’t get to 50 without a little bit of 49. And we’re here at the finale, the End of the Road.”

    Related: Kendall Jenner Attends Bad Bunny’s Orlando Concert — Are They Back Together?!

    Jake then started singing the lyrics to Boyz II Men’s End of the Road, but with an SNL twist:

    “I’ve loved you right from the start, oh season 49 / You know, I was actually SNL’s first choice to host the finale after a lot of people said no / I guess they’re all holding out for the 50th, but not me, not little J-G, I’m the one who said, ‘Yeah’ / They asked Pedro Pascal but he wasn’t around / Zendaya said no ‘cause she’d be out of town / Even asked [Ryan] Gosling to come back again, just hosted three shows ago”

    HA!

    Kenan Thompson, Ego Nwodim, Punkie Johnson, and Devon Walker then joined him on stage and sang in unison:

    “Although we’ve come to the end of the road / It’s the last episode / Time to say goodbye / Season 49 / You’ll be 50 soon”

    40 years and over 900 episodes! DAMN! Also, Jake has a set of lungs on him!! Watch the musical monologue (below):

    And Jake wasn’t the only Taylor-related guest on Saturday’s show… Her bestie and Eras Tour opener Sabrina Carpenter was also in the Big Apple to serenade the audience for the season’s finale! First up, she sang her chart-topping single Espresso, and absolutely CRUSHED it! Watch (below):

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfiOn7_aJ0k

    Spectacular!

    She also sang a mashup of Feather and Nonsense, which sounded absolutely excellent. Watch (below):

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHNnm2bE3Lg

    Sabrina typically concludes Nonsense with an ad-lib relating to whatever city she’s in. This time, she sang:

    “This song catchier than chicken pox is / I bet your house is where my other sock is / Woke up this morning, thought I’d write a pop hit / How quickly can you take your clothes off, pop quiz / He is 30 Rock hard ‘cause I said hi / My sense of humor is but I am not dry / SNL I just came for the first time”

    She always kills it! However, we wouldn’t have been mad if she’d added a little riff in there about Jake and Taylor! That would have been the perfect opportunity! And we know Swifties would have gotten a kick out of it!

    Sabrina also stuck around for a gruesome Scooby-Doo skit, where she played Daphne alongside Jake’s Fred. Watch (below):

    Oof!!

    Later on in the show, the Weekend Update guys Colin Jost and Michael Che hit each other with some absolutely SAVAGE jokes — with one even about Colin’s wife Scarlett Johansson! Watch (below):

    See the rest of this week’s highlights (below):

    Well, that’s a wrap on season 49! What’d YOU think?? SNL will return this fall with season 50!

    [Images via NBC/Peacock & MEGA/WENN]

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    Perez Hilton

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