“And live from New York, it’s Saturday night!” These are the words I look forward to hearing every (you guessed it) Saturday night. After a few weeks on break, the latest SNL host was announced, and looking at the post I was disappointed to see a sticky note that read Elon Musk. 

Now, there are no specifications or restrictions on who can be host as far as I know, but to me, it was disappointing to see them choose to give a platform to someone like Musk. It is not uncommon for people to view Musk with awe and amazement at his achievements. However, I do not share this sentiment. While I do support the movement towards electric vehicles, I do not support Musk. 

Musk is the CEO of Tesla, a company that boasts of its environmentally friendly vehicles. However, reports show that in 2018 his private jet logged 150,000 miles, and each of those trips burns thousands of pounds of jet fuel. So while Musk is tweeting about the need to move to renewable energy sources, he is sitting comfortably in a private jet and burning fuel. Many of these expenses were covered by Tesla at the same time the company was facing debt and laying off employees. And if that wasn’t enough, logs show the plane flying from south to north Los Angeles. For a man that preaches his efficient and fast cars shouldn’t he be using them instead of taking a private jet for 20-mile trips? This is not the type of person that SNL should be giving a platform to. 

In the recent photos of rehearsals, it was not surprising to see Musk wearing a bandana, an insufficient alternative to a mask. At the beginning of the pandemic Musk downplayed the virus and even announced that he would not receive the vaccine. As a man with lots of influence, it is irresponsible and harmful to disregard the virus and to not take the situation seriously or refuse to get the vaccine. 

Unfortunately, it is likely that SNL made this choice knowing there would be controversy. It is typical for SNL to see an increase in viewership when there is a controversial or surprising host. And Elon Musk is definitely surprising and controversial. As a consistent watcher of the program it is disappointing, however, not surprising, that they would give a platform to Musk just for the views. While they may not be directly endorsing Musk and his actions, by giving him the space to host the show I believe this is implied. Not only is Musk not a person who deserves this platform, but as soon as he steps on the show he is a walking advertisement for his business. SNL should not be the place for Musk to promote SpaceX and Tesla, whether directly or indirectly. 

SNL is a comfort show for me, something I watch to forget my stress and laugh at Kate McKinnon as she transforms into every politician on Capitol Hill, not something I watch to see Elon Musk fall on his face as he attempts to be funny. I do not believe Musk’s juvenile sense of humor and jokes equivalent to that of a teenage boy (see his tweets about making the price of the Tesla $69,420 or his sex jokes about the Tesla model names) will live up to SNL standards.

Personally, I will be watching the Weekend Update segment on YouTube and tuning in next week for Keegan-Michael Key.