When asked how rehearsals with the stars of the NBC sketch show have been going in light of the alleged protest, the Tesla CEO says it's all 'much ado about nothing.'
- May 5, 2021
AceShowbiz - Elon Musk is unfazed by reports of "Saturday Night Live" cast's uproar over his hosting gig. Days ahead of his debut as a host on the NBC variety series, the business magnate plays down the rumors, alluding that people just make a big deal of fuss over nothing.
The billionaire makes the comment when asked by Page Six how rehearsals have been going in light of the hubbub and speculation. He says it was all "much ado about nothing." When quizzed again if everyone is being friendly and willing to work with him, he gives a simple and affirmative answer with, "Yes."
The rumors that "SNL" cast is upset by the hiring of Elon as a host for the upcoming episode of the sketch series first emerged after some of the show's regular players reacted to the Tesla CEO's tweet. "Let's find out just how live 'Saturday Night Live' really is," the SpaceX chief designer tweeted in late April.
"What the f**k does this even mean," Bowen Yang then posted on his Instagram Story alongside a screenshot of Musk's tweet. Andrew Dismukes also questioned the decision to hire the businessman. "Only CEO I wanna do sketch with is Cher-E Oteri," he wrote, referencing to former "SNL" star Cher-E Oteri.
Meanwhile, Aidy Bryant shared a tweet by Bernie Sanders which read, "The 50 wealthiest people in America today own more wealth than the bottom half of our people." She added, "Let me repeat that, because it is almost too absurd to believe: the 50 wealthiest people in this country own more wealth than some 165 MILLION Americans. That is a moral obscenity. (sic)"
Their posts have since been deleted, but a source told Page Six that the upset cast members won't appear in a sketch with Elon. "Speaking historically, if a cast member has been that unhappy, they don't have to do it," the source said. "['SNL' boss Lorne Michaels] won't ever make them do anything they don't want to do."
Meanwhile, Elon continues preparing for his hosting gig as he asked for skit ideas on Twitter on Saturday, May 1. "Throwing out some skit ideas for SNL. What should I do?" he asked his followers, before coming up with some of his own.
