All eyes were on Saturday Night Live to see how the legendary sketch show would address the ongoing battle over TV censorship in the wake of Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension and President Donald Trump’s constant attacks on late night. Although the Jimmy Kimmel Live host didn’t make a cameo as many fans hoped, SNL made it clear the NBC show wouldn’t be toning anything down in season 51.
In Saturday’s premiere, hosted by Bad Bunny, Colin Jost appeared in the Cold Open as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who called the United States military “gay as hell,” before ranting, “We are facing the greatest threat to freedom and democracy the world has ever known, and we all know what that threat is…”
“Late-night TV,” cut in James Austin Johnson’s Trump.
“I’m just here keeping my eye on SNL,” he explained. “Making sure they don’t do anything too mean about me. And they better be careful ’cause I know late-night TV like the back of my hand,” he said, holding up a makeup-covered bruised right hand.
Trump then got meta, announcing: “SNL 51 off to a rough start: 17 new cast members and they got the Update guy doing the open. Look at Colin, poor Colin. We all know they were never gonna let him do the opening by himself. He can’t even do Update by himself; he needs Michael Che.”
Johnson’s president continued, “Frankly, I’m surprised Colin’s here. I thought he’d be with his friends at the Riyadh Comedy Festival,” with Jost breaking character to admit he “didn’t get an offer” for the controversial event.
“Here we are, SNL season 51. Should have called it at 50, right? So sad to see something get so old and confused and still demand your constant attention,” Trump said, tongue-in-cheek. “But they better be on their best behavior, otherwise they’re going to have to answer to my attack dog at the FCC, Brandon Carr.” (Mikey Day then entered as Carr, who corrected him and noted that his name’s actually Brendan.)
“Okay, I guess I’ll let them start the show,” Trump said. “I see the crew’s all ready to go. By the way, thank you SNL crew for your hard work and your votes. You fellas gonna keep an eye on Marcello [Hernández] for me, right?” he asked, as the camera nodded up and down.
“Remember, Daddy’s watching. And, live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!”
Entertainment Weekly has reached out the the White House for comment.
Trump has spent the last month slamming various late-night hosts, as well as ABC’s decision to reinstate Kimmel.
“I can’t believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back. The White House was told by ABC that his Show was cancelled!” Trump fumed. “Something happened between then and now because his audience is GONE, and his ‘talent’ was never there. Why would they want someone back who does so poorly, who’s not funny, and who puts the Network in jeopardy by playing 99% positive Democrat GARBAGE.”
This came after Kimmel teamed up with fellow late-night hosts Stephen Colbert and Seth Meyers to taunt the president with an Instagram photo captioned, “Hi Donald!”
Trump, a former SNL host, has publicly criticized all three late-night hosts, who have all been vocal critics of his presidency on their respective shows.
The late-night chaos began in July when CBS announced that The Late Show With Stephen Colbert would end in May 2026, several days after the host criticized the CBS parent company, Paramount, for settling a lawsuit from the president. The move also coincided with Paramount’s then-pending merger with Skydance, which was approved just a few weeks after the show’s cancellation announcement. CBS has stated the cancellation was not connected, and was “purely a financial decision.”
Trump celebrated The Late Show‘s cancellation, writing on social media at the time, “I absolutely love that Colbert’ got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings. I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next. Has even less talent than Colbert!”
Jimmy Kimmel/Instagram
Then on Sept. 17, ABC announced it was pulling Kimmel off air “indefinitely” in response to remarks the host made on his show following the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our EW Dispatch newsletter.
Jimmy Kimmel Live was removed from the airwaves for six days, returning for most of the country on Sept. 22, with affiliate groups Nexstar and Sinclair finally lifting their continued boycott on Sept. 26
Trump also gloated over Kimmel’s suspension, writing “Great News for America: The ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED. Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done. Kimmel has ZERO talent, and worse ratings than even Colbert, if that’s possible.”
The president also called for Meyers and Jimmy Fallon to lose their shows, calling them “two total losers on Fake News NBC.”
Watch SNL‘s Cold Open above.
Saturday Night Live airs Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. ET/8:30 p.m. PT on NBC and Peacock.
