Pete Davidson describes Saturday Night Live cast dinner with Elon Musk
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With Elon Musk's hosting debut around the corner, Saturday Night Live revived its tradition of taking hosts out for dinner.
On Thursday's edition of The Breakfast Club on Power 105.1 in New York City, SNL cast member Pete Davidson told host Charlamagne tha God and Angela Yee about spending the evening before in the company of Musk. Davidson, who previously defended the show's choice to make the Tesla CEO its next guest host, dished on mealtime with the mogul.
"We got Lorne [Michaels], we got Chris Redd, Kenan [Thompson], Chloe Fineman was there. Ego [Nwodim] was there, and [Colin] Jost was there," Davidson shared.
Davidson said the gathering was the first cast dinner they'd had in over a year due to the pandemic.
"Before the pandemic, it was like a regular thing. And… I think this week was like the first one we've had all year. So, it was cool to do again," the comedian explained.
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images; Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images Pete Davidson and 'SNL' host Elon Musk
He also confirmed that SNL boss Michaels picked up the tab since it was a work dinner, despite Musk currently being the second richest person in the world (just after Jeff Bezos).
Davidson shared that he'd once considered paying for one of the dinners himself, until he learned the price.
"I, one time, was like, 'Oh, maybe it'd be cool if I got the bill for one of the host dinners,'" he remembered. Then he found out how much the check ran. "I was like no way. No way, dude," he chuckled, sharing that they typically run "a couple racks."
The King of Staten Island star also once again addressed the recent controversy over Musk as host, while on the radio show. Like he did during his appearance on Late Night With Seth Meyers, he told Charlamagne and Yee he was confused over the uproar.
"We didn't discuss it at all because we're all just like… I just don't understand why this is the dude everyone's so freaked out about," Davidson said. "I was like, 'What did he do? He's just like a really wealthy businessman that makes, like, nerd s---.' I don't know. He's really nice. I'm excited."
When asked if there was any truth that the cast was upset over Musk as host, Davidson said he hadn't noticed that to be the case.
"Nobody that I f--- with," he replied. "Everybody's kind of been like, 'Yo, who's the guy that's so pissed off?' Cause we're on a group text, so we're all just like, 'I don't know.' So, yeah, we're all excited and really don't understand the controversy."
Watch David's full interview:
Although Davidson said his costars seem fine with this week's host, there have been social media responses from SNL cast members who didn't seem as excited over Musk, who earlier this year was ordered by the National Labor Relations Board to delete a previous anti-union tweet he'd posted (Tesla has appealed), and in 2018, settled a securities fraud charge brought against him by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Bowen Yang, an EW Pride issue cover star, shared a frowning face on his Instagram Story after Musk was announced as host for the show. He also responded to Musk's tweet that read, "Let's find out just how live Saturday Night Live really is," with "What the f--- does that even mean?"
At the time, castmate Aidy Bryant seemed to react to the news by sharing a tweet from Senator Bernie Sanders about the "moral obscenity" of America's wealth distribution.
Andrew Dismukes also Instagrammed, the "ONLY CEO I WANT TO DO A SKETCH WITH IS CHER-E OTERI," following the announcement and shared an image of SNL legend Cheri Oteri.
SNL, hosted by Musk with musical guest Miley Cyrus, airs Saturday at 11:30 p.m. ET/8:30 p.m. PT on NBC.
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