‘Saturday Night Live’ tweaks the media’s coverage of Jeff Bezos in cold open
After a week off, “Saturday Night Live” opted to give its typical politics-skewering cold open segment another break as well.
With singer Halsey carrying a dual role as the episode’s host and musical guest, “Saturday Night Live” at least this week set aside Alec Baldwin’s portrayal of President Trump to begin on a topic that may have warmed the president’s heart: Playfully tweaking the media in the wake of the scandal involving Jeff Bezos and the National Enquirer.
Beginning by describing the “new low” reached in journalism after the Enquirer was accused of blackmailing Bezos with his nude selfies, Kyle Mooney’s Chuck Todd led a round of speculation about the Amazon chief’s penis. “You’re all highly respected journalists so when all is said and done, what do you think Jeff Bezos’ penis looks like?” Mooney began.
Speculation ensued, as did an eventual recap of the New York Post’s headline along with a few of “SNL’s” own. The topic continued through a couple of guest segments, including Aidy Bryant as Matthew Whitaker and an especially insane portrayal of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross by Kate McKinnon.
A later sketch looked at a recent scandal in Virginia state government with Kenan Thompson leading a conversation with his fellow representatives about their epidemic admissions of wearing blackface.
“Does it count if you did it all the way back in the ’80s?” asks a congresswoman played by Cecily Strong. “Of course not, it was funny and cool in the ’80s,” replies Mikey Day’s character.
“Am I in hell?” Thompson asks.
Follow me over here @chrisbarton.
The complete guide to home viewing
Get Screen Gab for everything about the TV shows and streaming movies everyone’s talking about.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
