Saturday Night Live returned for its 50th season Sept. 28, as the cast valiantly attempted to comment on everything that’s impacted culture since the end of last season, including Chappell Roan and Charli XCX. Bowen Yang was tapped for two separate skits, each one addressing the pop girlies of the moment.
On Weekend Update, Yang portrayed viral baby pygmy hippo Moo Deng, and turned her complaints about people gawking at her in her zoo enclosure into a riff on Chappell Roan’s TikTok videos about fans harassing her and her comments about the election.
“It has come to the point where I need to set some boundaries,” Yang said. “Reminder: women owe you nothing. When I’m in my enclosure tripping over stuff, biting my trainer’s knee, I am at work. That is the project. Do not yell my name or expect a photo just because I’m your parasocial bestie, or because you appreciate my talent.”
Yang then directly interpolated one of Chappell’s famous quotes, telling Colin Jost, “Now, I’m your favorite hippo’s favorite hippo.” He concluded, “I will not be making an endorsement in this year’s election.”
Yang also played Charli XCX hosting a talk show called The Talk Talk Show. The show’s deejay was Charli’s tourmate, “Australian dingo twink” Troye Sivan, played by Sarah Sherman. Yang then rated some current events as either “brat or nat”: Hunter Biden‘s laptop? Brat. Mark Robinson‘s search history? Nat.
Yang as Charli then welcomed various guests, played by SNL cast members, including CNN’s Kaitlan Collins and Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas). Goaded by Yang, Crockett, played by Ego Nwodim, was put on a “Mean Girls” cam and went off on topics including JD Vance, who she described as a “smoky-eyed sofa-sexual can’t order donuts but has a donut body.”
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