In recounting his time on the NBC series, the King of Staten Island star brought up the previous controversy about his 2018 comments about Dan Crenshaw and included a reference to Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars ceremony.

 

 

“I was simply making a joke about someone’s experience without realizing that the medical condition behind it was a sensitive issue, which is an SNL alumni tradition,” Davidson said as an image from the Oscars appeared onscreen.

“On one hand, I don’t like that people think they can just run up onstage and hit a comedian, but on another, it’s how I know all my shows will now be sold out.”

Davidson called Lorne “amazing” and credited the longtime show producer for leading SNL through the COVID-19 era. The comedian also recalled some fond memories of Michaels, including the time Davidson told him he had gotten engaged to Ariana Grande after just two weeks of dating.

 

“He goes, ‘Oh, hold on for dear life’ — it’s a true story,” Davidson shared. “And then when I auditioned for SNL, he said, ‘I don’t think you’re right for this show, so let’s screw this up together.’ And that’s exactly what we did.”

The star added about his tenure with the show, “If anything, I should inspire hope that literally anyone can be on Saturday Night Live. Seriously, you see a guy bumming cigarettes outside a 7-Eleven at 2:00 a.m., that’s not some meth head. That’s the next Pete Davidson.”

Davidson said Colin Jost has “been like a brother to me” and then continued, “I appreciate SNL always having my back and allowing me to work on myself and grow. Thank you to Lorne for never giving up on me or judging me, even when everyone else was, and for believing in me and allowing me to have a place that I could call home, with the memories that will last a lifetime. So, thank you guys.”

In the cold open, McKinnon reprised her fan-favorite character Ms. Rafferty, who relived another alien encounter. At the end of the segment, McKinnon headed into a UFO to leave Earth behind for good.

“Well, Earth, I love you,” McKinnon said, putting her hand on her heart. “Thanks for letting me stay a while. Live from New York, it’s Saturday night.”

 

During her cold open, host Natasha Lyonne poked fun at her Netflix series Russian Doll: “The second season of Russian Doll just premiered on Netflix, and two things you definitely want to be associated with right now are Russia and Netflix.”

The monologue included guest appearances from SNL alums Fred Armisen and Maya Rudolph, with Lyonne quipping about having ended her romantic relationship with Armisen. “Freddy and I dated for seven years,” she said. “We’re the only couple with a sex tape nobody wanted to buy.”

Meanwhile, Bryant appeared on “Weekend Update” as her trend forecaster opposite Bowen Yang. Among the trends that she deemed “in” were “10 nice years” and “my best guys kissing me,” leading Yang and Michael Che to both kiss her on the cheek.

In the night’s final sketch, Mooney, McKinnon and Bryant all played aging hippies, and the characters ended the bit by singing Joni Mitchell’s wistful 1966 tune “The Circle Game.”