Comedian Chloe Fineman claims Elon Musk, the owner of Space X, made her weep when hosting “Saturday Night Live” in 2021.
Fineman recounted working with the tech mogul in a now-deleted TikTok post, months after fellow cast member and writer Bowen Yang hinted at the behind-the-scenes drama during an appearance on Bravo’s “Watch What Happens Live!” Yang cryptically claimed in August that a presenter made many staffers weep because “he hated the ideas” they proposed. Speculation abounded, and Fineman acknowledged her involvement on Monday.
The “SNL” star broke her silence after blasting Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s “butt hurt” reaction to “SNL” alumnus Dana Carvey’s impersonation of him in Saturday’s post-election episode. (Carvey returned to Studio 8H as a joyful, fist-pumping version of the “Dark MAGA”-boasting Musk from the cold open, stating he would control the country following former President Trump’s re-election last week. Fineman stated that the world’s richest man and Trump supporter is “clearly watching the show” despite receiving “rude” feedback on his X platform.
“I’m gonna come out and say at long last that I’m the cast member that he made cry, and he’s the host that made someone cry,” Fineman said in the clip she shared. “Maybe there’s others.”
“You made me, Chloe Fineman, fall into tears,” she went on, “because I spent the entire night composing this sketch. I was quite excited. I came in, asked if you had any questions, and you stared at me as if you were dismissing me from Tesla, saying, ‘It’s not funny.'”
The “Megalopolis” and “Despicable Me 4” star said she expected Musk to say he was just kidding, but he didn’t. Then she accused him of “pawing” through her script and stated, while impersonating his South African accent, that he didn’t laugh once during the sketch. She did not name the sketch, although she and Musk appeared together in “The Ooli Show” sketch from the May 2021 episode, for which she received a writing credit. Fineman played an Icelandic talk show personality, while Musk played her enamored producer.
She acknowledged that the sketch that aired in the episode “was acceptable” and that she “actually enjoyed it a lot.” She also recognized that Musk was “really humorous in it.” “However, a bit of decorum would be appreciated here, sir,” she wrapped up. Even though Fineman took down the video, it was captured and re-shared on X, where Musk responded to it on Monday and shared his thoughts on the performance. “Honestly, it was only on the Thursday before the Saturday that ANY of the sketches got some laughs,” Musk commented. “I was concerned. I thought, man, my SNL performance is going to be so f— unfunny that it could make a crackhead sober!! But in the end, it turned out well.”
Musk did not express remorse or mention that any cast members became emotional. Representatives for Fineman and “Saturday Night Live” did not promptly reply to The Times’ requests for comment on Tuesday.
Before Fineman shared her TikTok, Musk expressed his frustration about the latest episode on X.
“Musk tweeted in reaction to a clip from the cold open, stating ‘Dana Carvey just sounds like Dana Carvey,’ and in another tweet, he remarked, ‘They are so mad that @realDonaldTrump won.’”
He also asserted that the long-standing, Emmy-winning sketch show “has been gradually declining for years as it becomes more disconnected from reality.” Musk, who is anticipated to play a significant role in Trump’s upcoming administration, further accused the series of engaging in a “desperate attempt to evade the equal airtime rules” when Vice President Kamala Harris featured in the Nov. 2 episode before the election, stating that it “only contributed to the downfall of her campaign.”
