Latest news with #JamesAustinJohnson
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'SNL' cold open mocks Trump's Middle East trip, Qatar jet 'pre-bribe'
A landmark season of "Saturday Night Live" is in the books. The Season 50 finale of "SNL" kicked off with a spoof of President Donald Trump's recent trip to the Middle East. Joined by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (played by Emil Wakim), Trump (James Austin Johnson) declared that he has been having a fantastic week. "I didn't make this trip for myself, I want to make that clear," he said. "I did this for the American people. And, in many ways, myself, my personal enrichment. I did that, too. I did very well on this trip. Got a lot of cool stuff." Johnson's Trump denied that a luxury jet offered to him by Qatar's royal family is a bribe "because they haven't asked for anything in return," though bin Salman quickly interjected, "Well, not yet." Johnson's Trump conceded, "All right, so it's a pre-bribe." 'SNL' Season 50 finale: Michael Che apologizes to Scarlett Johansson for crude 'Weekend Update' joke swap He also noted "I don't think I saw a single woman" on his Middle East trip. "The women are all hiding. It's like a nation of Melanias." But the end of the cold open got seriously meta, with Johnson's Trump saying he can't "stay in this sketch much longer" before walking out into the audience to speak to the camera about the "SNL" finale. "After tonight, you won't be seeing me here for a while," he said. "Well, not the fake, fun version of me that makes you smile. The real one will still be omnipresent. You can't escape me, right? I'm everywhere." He concluded, "See you again in the fall, if we still have a country, right? It's a coin toss." Join our Watch Party! Sign up to receive USA TODAY's movie and TV recommendations right in your inbox Rumors ran wild heading into the finale about which cast members might not return for Season 51. That still hasn't been confirmed, but host Scarlett Johansson's monologue had fun with the rumors and speculation. The "Jurassic World Rebirth" star brought the cast out to join her in a parody of Billy Joel's "Piano Man," with the lyrics rewritten to be about the "SNL" finale. "It lasted forever, we did it together, and we got to spend it with you," Johansson and the cast sang. "It's been a great season, and Sarah is leaving," Johansson also sang, referring to Sarah Sherman, before the rest of the cast joined in, "We're all going to miss you next year." But Sherman, who is not known to be leaving the show, jokingly acted distraught, asking, "Wait, what? Did you guys hear something? What do you mean leaving?" Some fans had speculated Colin Jost could be leaving the show after the Season 50 finale, or perhaps getting a promotion that would take him off of "Weekend Update." Nothing was confirmed during the episode, which ended with a sweet moment between Johansson and Jost, who are married and have a young son together. As Johansson was saying goodnight at the end of the show, Jost walked out and handed her flowers before the two shared a kiss. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'SNL' finale mocks Trump's Middle East trip, cast departure rumors
The Guardian
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Saturday Night Live: Scarlett Johansson breaks record in season finale
The final episode of Saturday Night Live's 50th season kicks off – as so many recent ones have – with President Trump (James Austin Johnson) front and center. Trump is in Saudi Arabia, standing alongside his new 'habibi', Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (Emil Wakim). Trump is a big fan of everything Saudi Arabia has to offer: 'From the oil to the money to end of list.' He also celebrates his visit to Qatar, where he was gifted a $400m plane, which he would much rather take than an American one: 'Have you seen our planes? The radar is down, the screen is blank–Newark!' After a dig at former SNL musical guest Morgan Wallen ('Get me back to Allah's country'), Trump breaks the fourth wall, moving into the crowd. He kicks an unsuspecting audience member out of his seat and takes the guy's spot next to a very attractive woman, proclaiming, 'Sevens or more, sit on the floor. Six and below, to the bleachers you go.' He says goodbye for now, promising everyone that he'll see them in the fall, 'If we still have a country. It's a coin toss.' Johnson gets to deliver the 'Live, from New York…' send-off all by himself, which is deserved given how central he has been to the show this year. Scarlett Johansson breaks a record tonight, having now hosted more than any other woman in the program's history. She dives straight into a musical ode to SNL set to the tune of Billy Joel's Piano Man (at one point it seems like he's about to come out on stage, but it's just a misdirect). She's joined by the entire cast – including Sarah Sherman, who Johansson announces won't be returning next year, much to the latter's shock. More sentimental than funny, although it never crosses over into treacle. On a New York City morning news show, two of the regular hosts (Ashley Padilla and Kenan Thompson) announce that their third co-anchor is out on maternity leave. They welcome Johansson's substitute from nightly news, who tries to get in on their frothy delivery style by using puns for every story, no matter how inappropriate: 'I'll have what she's having: a Queens couple dies in an apparent murder-suicide', 'Hasta la Visa, baby – another infant has been deported.' A couple decent lines, but it's too one-note. A new Please Don't Destroy video finds Ben, John, and Martin down in the dumps over the state of the world. Johansson attempts to cheer them up by taking them on vacation and flying them first class. They start rapping about their luxurious trip, right up until Johansson informs them that they're landing in Newark. Freaked out over that airport's recent technical issues ('They're losing the planes in Newark, but the crashing is happening everywhere all the time now'). Sure enough, turbulence hits and the plane starts malfunctioning, convincing everyone aboard that they're about to die (Johansson voices her life's only regret: 'That The Avengers didn't make more money at the box office.'). But they are saved at the last minute by the lone air traffic controller on duty (musical guest Bad Bunny). The second solid Please Don't Destroy this season. Two couples – Ego Nwodim and Marcello Hernández, Johansson and Bad Bunny – square off over a table in a bar. It's actually only the women who are fighting, as the men pretend to argue violently in Spanish, only for the on-screen captions to reveal they're actually bonding over how unhappy they are in their current relationships. The ladies also attempt Spanish, but it comes out nonsense ('Asparagus, nothing and your ankle!'). A clever premise elevates this one. Next, we get the return of Straight Bowen. Behind the scenes, Johansson admits she has a crush on him. Even though he's currently in a relationship with Gina Gershon, he still pursues her – giving her husband Colin Jost the boot from an elevator before hooking up with her in the edit bay. Later that night, she shows up at his apartment, only for him to ditch her and ride off with Emily Ratajkowski. She's heartbroken but has learned a valuable lesson: 'Never get your back blown out by a gay guy.' The first Straight Bowen sketch was fine, but it's been diminishing returns for each new one. Mike Myers makes one final appearance this season. He meets a couple of starstruck fans while taking an elevator, before being ditched by them when none other than Kanye West ( Thompson) steps inside. You can hear the audience realize this is a reunion when West reminds Myers of their infamous appearance together at 'that Hurricane Katrina benefit where I told the world George Bush don't care about Black people on live TV and you just had to stand there looking stupid'. Asked what he's been up to since, West answers: 'I'm in the KKK now.' Myers finally getting some comeuppance for that infamous moment almost 20 years ago – which, to be fair, he has often said he agreed with and supported – is wonderful to watch, and this is a deservingly brutal takedown of the psychotic West, who will no doubt be personally infuriated by it. That said, the brief mention of Sean 'Diddy' Combs's trial feels odd here, being that Myers's name was brought up during jury selection only yesterday (no connection has been established between the two save a parody of Diddy in one of the Austin Powers movies). It's also disappointing that Myers, who has been a regular presence on SNL since the big anniversary special, didn't reunite with Dana Carvey – a mainstay of the first half of the season – although given their tumultuous history it's not surprising. Bad Bunny performs his first song of the night, a very creative production that sees him and his backup dancers dressed as construction workers, sitting atop a metal beam as the city skyline floats behind them. Newark Airport comes in for yet more ribbing on Weekend Update, courtesy of Nwodim, aka Ms Eggy. Bringing back her mega-popular Def Jam-style persona – which got her fined by the FCC last time around – she drops a tight 3 on the airport's sorry dining options: 'Y'all went and took peanuts off the plane because everybody wants to have an allergy – if you don't take a Benadryl and shut yo' gay ass up!' Another great performance from Nwodim, although it's not quite as good as the one from a few weeks ago, a highlight of the season. As per Update season finale tradition, Colin Jost and Michael Che do their annual joke swap, where they blind read jokes written by another. Che gets Jost to tell Lorne Michaels to retire already and let him run the show, while Jost forces Che to apologize to Johansson's face for his tasteless joke about her vagina last time around. Jost seems to have won this round right up to the final run of jokes, in which Che tricks him into saying the N-word, gets him to apply lipstick, and makes him offer to fellate Michaels. The first day on set of a new movie – a queer romantic drama – sees Johansson and Thompson's intimacy coordinators struggle to stage the love scene as they can't understand how two women can have sex. Jokes about gender identity, pronouns, and lesbian porn fall completely flat. Worst sketch of the night by far. During a promotional interview with the cast of a new hit TV drama, the heartthrob male lead fields softball questions, while the women get thrown totally inappropriate heaters: 'What's harder: being a woman or being Black?' 'When's the last time you took Plan B?' 'If you could vote one religion off the face of the earth, which one would you pick?' There are a couple good lines – particularly the ones aimed at Sherman's character ('You good face, but bad hair – you have mental problem?'), but as with so many sketches these days, it has no idea how to end. Bad Bunny performs his second song – this time set in a graffiti-strewn women's bathroom – alongside RaiNao. Things get a spicy when she gives him a very intimate lapdance. Then the show and the season conclude with a Victorian lady's luncheon. The spread includes grotesque delicacies such as blood pudding, pickled cows' feet, jellied eels, candied clams, boiled calf's head, BLTs ('bunnies and little turtles'), hamster sashimi, donkey's milk and more. A good spurt of gross-out humor that's hampered by some technical complications and a bit too much breaking from the cast. Thus concludes the 50th season of Saturday Night Live. The curtain call feels appropriately big – Jost gives his wife some flowers and a big ol' smooch, while Johansson delivers a tribute to Michaels – if not the episode. That said, it had its moments and Johansson was as solid as ever. As to what the future holds for Saturday Night Live – which cast members will or won't return next year, how much longer will Michaels man the helm, what will the forthcoming British version of the show look like – we'll just have to wait until the fall to find out.
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Saturday Night Live' Opens With 'Fake' Donald Trump Defending Qatar's 'Gift' Of A Jumbo Jet — An Hour After The Real POTUS Did The Same
Saturday Night Live opened its Season 50 finale with the show's Donald Trump (James Austin Johnson) taking his seat in the audience and saying farewell until the fall. 'After tonight, you won't be seeing me here for a while,' said Johnson's Trump. 'Well, not the fake, fun version of me that makes you smile. The real one will still be omnipresent. You can't escape me, right? I'm everywhere, even in your dreams, like the late, great Freddy Krueger.' More from Deadline Scarlett Johansson Ushers In 'SNL' Season 50 Finale With Musical Tribute Set To Billy Joel's 'Piano Man' — And Joke That Sarah Sherman Is Leaving 'Nouvelle Vague' Director Richard Linklater On Trump Film Tariffs: "That's Not Gonna Happen" - Cannes 'Saturday Night Live' Wraps Season 50 With No Cast Goodbyes In Finale As NBC Series Prepares For Departures Johnson was right: the real president has been posting on Truth Social throughout the evening, including an attack on ABC News for its report that he is planning to accept a $400 million plane from Qatar, to be used as Air Force One and later for his presidential library. That gift of a 747 was the subject of some of the quips earlier in the sketch, as Trump, speaking to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, relished in his deal-making trip to the Middle East and all the love and affection shown to him. 'The Qataris gave me a $400 million plane, can you believe that? And people said that it was some sort of a bribe. Not true, not true. Because they haven't asked for anything in return.' The crown prince chimed in, 'Well, not yet.' Trump responded, 'So it's a pre-bribe. But now people are saying I should really be flying in an American plane. Ah, no thanks, sonny. Have you seen what is going on with our planes?' About an hour before SNL, the real Trump was insisting this evening that the plane was not a gift to him personally. In a Truth Social post, he again appeared to be threatening ABC News, which broke the story on Sunday. The real Trump wrote, 'Everyone, including their lawyers, has been told that ABC must not say that Qatar is giving ME a FREE Boeing 747 Airplane, because they are not. Instead, and as Fake News ABC fully knows and understands, this highly respected country is donating the plane to the United States Air Force/ Defense Department, AND NOT TO ME. By so doing, they are saving our country, and the American Taxpayer, hundreds of millions of dollars. ABC Fake News is one of the WORST.' The Qatar gift has drawn criticism not just from Democrats, but from some Republicans and those who have otherwise defended the president. In his weeklong trip in the Middle East, Trump also showered praise on MBS, even though U.S. intelligence concluded that he approved the 2018 murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a journalist for The Washington Post. 'I didn't make this trip for myself,' SNL's Trump told MBS. 'I want to make that clear. I did this for the American people, and in many ways myself, my personal enrichment. I did that too.' The sketch concluded with Johnson 'breaking the fourth wall' by walking off the stage to the audience. Trump told MBS, 'Gonna have to leave. You know what? Because it is the SNL season finale. Season 50 — worst one yet!' Sitting down with a group of women, he told them, 'It's nice here, with all the young pretty people. Look at her — wow. Sevens and more, sit on the floor, six and below to the bleachers you go.' He added, 'That's like a Gutfeld joke. Kind of rhymed, right?' Watch it above. Best of Deadline Sean 'Diddy' Combs Sex-Trafficking Trial Updates: Cassie Ventura's Testimony, $10M Hotel Settlement, Drugs, Violence, & The Feds 'Nine Perfect Strangers' Season 2 Release Schedule: When Do New Episodes Come Out? Everything We Know About Ari Aster's 'Eddington' So Far
New York Times
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
‘S.N.L.': A Lucrative Middle East Trip
There was only one way for the final episode of the milestone 50th season of 'Saturday Night Live' to begin: with Lorne Michaels announcing that his chosen successor will be — nah, come on, it was another sketch with James Austin Johnson playing President Trump. This weekend's broadcast, hosted by Scarlett Johansson and featuring the musical guest Bad Bunny, began with a sendup of President Trump's recent visit to the Middle East. Sharing the stage with Emil Wakim (who was playing Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia), Johnson said that he'd been enjoying their meals together, 'sitting on the floor, dipping our fingers straight into various goops and spreads that I politely scrape under the rug and go eat at a mobile McDonald's that you built for me.' He added that he was a 'big fan of everything that Saudi Arabia has to offer, from the oil to the money to end of list.' Johnson vowed that he didn't make this trip for his own benefit. 'I want to make that clear,' he said. 'I did this for the American people and, in many ways, myself. My personal enrichment. I did that too.' Despite the controversy surrounding his plan to accept a 747 jet as a gift from the nation of Qatar, Johnson said he would resist demands to fly an American plane. 'Uh, no thanks, honey,' he said. 'Have you seen what's going on with our planes? The radar is down and the screen is blank. Newark!' He also wondered why he hadn't seen any women on this trip ('The women are all hiding,' Johnson said. 'It's like a nation of Melanias') and worked in one last reference to the country musician Morgan Wallen's hasty exit from the 'S.N.L.' stage in March, announcing, 'Get me to Allah's country.' Finally, Johnson stepped out of the sketch and into the 'S.N.L.' studio audience while remaining in character. He told viewers that, though his version of Trump would be going away for the summer, 'The real one will still be omnipresent. You can't escape me, right? I'm everywhere. Even in your dreams — even in your dreams like the late great Freddy Krueger.' 'So,' Johnson said, 'see you again in the fall. If we still have a country, right? It's a coin toss.' Self-references of the week With a well-deserved summer break in sight, 'S.N.L.' went slightly easier on its performers this week by giving them several sketches in which they were cast as themselves: there was Johansson in a Please Don't Destroy music video about air travel in the United States and its, uh, rapid decline; and several cast members as themselves in a filmed piece about Johansson being seduced by Bowen Yang. But the best of these may have been a guest appearance by the 'S.N.L.' alum Mike Myers, playing himself in a sketch where he is uncomfortably reunited on a stuck elevator with Ye (Kenan Thompson), nearly 20 years after they awkwardly shared a stage together during a TV benefit concert for victims of Hurricane Katrina. 'I get really claustrophobic,' Myers said in the sketch. 'Oh, trust me,' Thompson replied. 'I understand. I'm a few phobics myself.' Language lesson of the week With Marcello Hernández and Bad Bunny reunited on tonight's show, 'S.N.L.' put their bilingual abilities to deft use in this sketch, which initially appeared to be about two couples (Hernández and Ego Nwodim; and Bad Bunny and Johansson) feuding in a bar over a favorite table. But as the fight progressed and the two men seemed on the verge of exchanging blows, they slipped into Spanish to confess their relationship woes to each other. (The ingenuous ladies, of course, believe that their men are exchanging Spanish-language insults and defending their honor.) Weekend Update jokes of the week Over at the Weekend Update desk, the anchors, Colin Jost and Michael Che, continued to riff on President Trump's visit to the Middle East. Jost began: Che continued: Weekend Update desk segment of the week Both of the Weekend Update desk pieces this week were callbacks to segments from earlier in the season. And, since we can't fully explain in a way that's appropriate for a family newspaper why Che was apologizing to Johansson for a previous joke about her, we'll talk about Nwodim instead. Nwodim was back to play her stand-up persona, Miss Eggy — you know, the one who caused a mild stir in April, when the 'S.N.L.' studio audience responded to one of her call-and-response bits with an obscene word. No such naughtiness this time — just more of Miss Eggy's jokes about menopause and airplane food. ('Flight attendant came around asking me if I want some butternut squash ravioli,' she said. 'More like, butter not offer me that mess till you put some meat in it.') Nwodim did again ask the audience members to chime in at various moments, but we noticed that she was much quicker to pull her microphone away from them and bring it back to herself this time around.
Forbes
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Scarlett Johansson Swaps Jokes On ‘SNL' Finale with Bad Bunny
Saturday Night Live's 50th season ended last night. The finale was hosted by Scarlett Johansson with musical guest Bad Bunny. It was Bad Bunny's fourth appearance on the show (he first appeared in a cameo in 2020 and returned as a musical guest twice and a musical guest/host once). Johansson set a record. The episode was the Avengers star's seventh time hosting, making her the woman who has hosted the most times (she is closely followed by Tina Fey and Drew Barrymore, who have both hosted six times). Alec Baldwin still holds the overall record with 17 times hosted. While rumors of cast exits swirled in the lead up to the episode, none were confirmed on the show. (Even if they joked that Sarah Sherman was leaving during the monologue.) James Austin Johnson appeared as Donald Trump to talk about his trip to the Middle East. He was joined by Emil Wakim as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Trump spoke about planes and how he loves the Middle East before breaking the fourth wall to enter the crowd. The ending felt a little new, but overall, SNL has done so many versions of this Cold Open this season that it felt a little drab for the finale. There is nothing wrong with it, just a lot of the same. Johansson is joined by the cast to sing a parody of Billy Joel's 'Piano Man.' It is nice to see the whole cast (sans Michael Che and Colin Jost) together on stage. There are some funny bits including Kenan Thompson's moment and joking about Sherman getting fired, but the most apt word to describe this monologue is cute. When a nighttime newscaster fills in during the morning news, she has trouble crafting the cute puns that they usually deliver stories with. This bit is a classic SNL premise that has some really fun performances, especially from Wakim and the singing weatherman. This sketch features a bit of a twist. Honestly, you should probably watch it before reading the following for maximum enjoyment. SPOILER WARNING: Johansson takes the boys of Please Don't Destroy on a first class trip, unfortunately they are landing in Newark. There are some great lines in this sketch including Johansson regretting that Avengers didn't make more money and a great cameo from Bad Bunny. It's a fun sketch. Bad Bunny appears in another sketch. He and Marcello Hernández speak in Spanish behind their girlfriends' backs because their girls are 'locas' and, thankfully, don't understand Spanish. Johnson also appears to deliver a great final line. This sketch is very close to being amazing, but falls a little short. However, it's still worth a watch. A sequel to a sketch with Sydney Sweeney from last year, Bowen Yang still just plays gay on TV. While Johansson is married, that doesn't stop her from wanting to hook up with Yang. This sequel doesn't go anywhere that the first version doesn't. However, it has cameos from Gina Gershon and Emily Ratajkowski and a Las Culturistas reference. Mike Myers plays himself in this sketch, in which he gets stuck with Kanye West (played by Thompson) in an elevator. This is easily the strangest sketch of the night and is worth a watch for that reason alone. It references a viral 2005 TV appearance where Ye famously said, 'George Bush doesn't care about Black people' while standing next to Myers. Strangely, this sketch almost doesn't go far enough. Bad Bunny performed NUEVAYoL and PERFuMITO NUEVO ft. RaiNao. Both performances are great. He's not only talented but also creates interesting stories with both performances. Jost and Che brought their 'Joke Swap' segment to the Weekend Update desk. This will likely be the segment people talk most about from the finale. The hosts push it even further than usual (which is saying something). Johansson also joins them with her own joke for Che as revenge for what he made Jost say about her vagina last time they did the segment. Ego Nwodim also returned as her character, Miss Eggy, to do jokes about airline food. It isn't as funny as the first time she brought the character, but it's still a pretty fun bit. Miss Eggy's energy is still pretty contagious. Two intimacy coordinators are stumped when they learn that they are working on a lesbian scene. There are some good lines mostly from Mikey Day as the director; however, overall this sketch feels 1990s in a bad way. This will likely be a skip to most viewers. When a cast is interviewed on a press junket, the male star gets easy questions while his female co-stars get mean ones. This sketch is cute and has a nice message about feminism in the entertainment industry, but feels a little forgettable. In a beautiful regency-era setting, four women eat disgusting foods. Johansson, Sherman, Heidi Gardner and Chloe Fineman choke down foods like jellied eels. This sketch feels very fresh. It doesn't feel like SNL's usual humor and there's something horrid about it in a pleasing way. However, it is missing something. It doesn't build quite right and is bogged down by some poop jokes. Still it feels worth watching for those who can stomach it. The 50th season ended with Johansson praising Lorne Michaels. Jost then handed her a bouquet of roses and they kissed. She is also notably wearing a Wayne's World shirt next to Myers.
