Elon Musk gets off to rocky start in SNL monologue, including false claim about being first host with Asperger's

Jolie Lash
·4 min read
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Elon Musk gets off to rocky start in SNL monologue, including false claim about being first host with Asperger's

Turns out, he didn't test the censors.

Despite tweeting, "Let's find out just how live Saturday Night Live really is," after he was announced as host, Tesla and Space-X mogul Elon Musk played it safe during his opening monologue on SNL's stage. Instead of testing the NBC big-wigs with their hands on the buttons, he seemed to stick to the show's cue cards, addressing his Asperger syndrome, talking green energy, using his accomplishments to explain away his controversial tweets, and inviting his mom, Maye Musk, onstage -— since it was the Mother's Day episode, after all.

"It's an honor to be hosting Saturday Night Live. I mean that," Musk said as he addressed the audience on the famed sketch show stage. "Sometimes, after I say something, I have to say, 'I mean that,' so people really know that I mean it. That's because I don't always have a lot of intonational variation in how I speak — which I'm told makes for great comedy.

"I'm actually making history tonight as the first person with Asperger's to host SNL," he continued to cheers from the studio audience. "Or, at least the first to admit it, so I won't make a lot of eye contact with the cast tonight. But don't worry, I'm pretty good at running human in emulation mode."

Despite the claim, Musk is not the first person with Asperger syndrome to host the show. As Daily Beast reporter Marlow Stern pointed out, original SNL cast member Dan Aykroyd also has Asperger's and returned to host in 2003.

Musk then gave an intro into on his "vision for the future," including his support for "renewable energy" and humanity becoming a "multi-planterary" civilization, before quickly noting that if he talked about those subjects on Twitter (instead of the ones he has tweeted about, and which have gotten him in trouble) he'd "be fine."

"Look, I know I sometimes post or say strange things, but that's just how my brain works. To anyone I've offended, I just want to say I reinvented electric cars and I'm sending people to Mars on a rocket ship," he said to another round of applause and loud cheers from the audience.

"Did you think I was mostly going to be a chill, normal dude," he added rolling his eyes.

Musk went on to address visiting Joe Rogan's podcast, where he "smoked weed" and seemingly used it to make a not-as-bad-as style comparison to a former SNL host whose since been disgraced: O. J. Simpson

"And now, all the time, I hear 'Elon Musk, all he ever does is smoke weed on podcasts.' Like I go from podcast to podcast, lighting up joints. It happened once. It's like reducing O.J. Simpson to 'murderer,'" he said to a mixed reaction from the crowd. "That was one time. Fun fact: O.J. also hosted this show in '79, and again in '96. Killed both times." Musk was wrong about this claim too, as Simpson's only hosting appearance was in 1978, not '79 or '96.

The Tesla boss went on to mention the show being live, but instead of saying something unexpected – and fine-worthy – he joked he'd use the moment to say something "truly shocking – like, 'I drive a Prius.'"

NBC Elon Musk hosting 'SNL'

He also joked that the pronunciation for X Æ A-12, the name of his baby son with musician Grimes is "cat-running-on-keyboard."

And as it was Mother's Day, Musk brought out his own mom for a sort of awkward mother-son exchange where they discussed a video game he created — and sold — as a youth. The two joked about a bank account she opened for him. "Whatever happened to that?" he asked. She replied telling him not to worry about it.

Before she left the stage, though, the elder Musk said she was looking forward to her Mother's Day gift, hoping it wasn't Dogecoin, the crypto currency he's been promoting of late. Musk, however, said it was.

Musk has been one of the show's more controversial hosts of late. He's drawn criticism for his anti-union sentiments and spreading misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier this year, Musk 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.

Some of the SNL cast seemed less than thrilled about Musk taking the stage at 30 Rock when it was first announced, however they seemed to all be present on the show, including Bowen Yang, who previously shared a frowning face on his Instagram Story after the news broke, and Aidy Bryant who previously shared a tweet from Senator Bernie Sanders about the "moral obscenity" of America's wealth distribution.

Watch Musk's full monologue above.

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