Jeremy Culhane Portrays Elon Musk in SNL Segment Mocking Midterm Defeats
The actor sat with Colin Jost to address the billionaire's recent electoral losses and a Cybertruck mishap, with AI-generated insults from Grok adding to the satire.
By Pedro Barnes ·
Jeremy Culhane took on the role of Elon Musk during a sketch on Saturday Night Live, marking a shift in how the show portrays the billionaire following his recent political setbacks. The segment aired on November 7, 2026, placing the character in a direct interview with Weekend Update anchor Colin Jost. This appearance follows a period of intense public scrutiny for Musk, including a high-profile documentary and specific product failures.
The sketch focused on the financial and electoral consequences of Musk's midterm campaign strategy. Jost noted that the billionaire wasted nearly half a billion dollars on the midterms, pointing out that almost all the candidates he backed lost. Musk, played by Culhane, attempted to deflect the conversation by referencing a recent incident involving his Cybertruck. He described the vehicle doing a flip, comparing it to a small toy car, a detail that had become a point of public ridicule in the days prior to the broadcast.
Jost pressed the character on the irony of his political moves. He highlighted that Musk moved to Texas specifically because the state was governed by Republicans, only to see Texas fall under Democratic control in the recent election. When asked how that outcome made him feel, Culhane’s Musk responded with a simple, blunt "Bad." The actor then struggled to maintain focus on the loss, repeatedly changing the subject back to the vehicle flip and employing the halting speech patterns and non-sequiturs often associated with the real-life billionaire.
The writers of the show escalated the satire by having the character request an "epic vulgar-roast" from the AI chatbot Grok. The fictional AI returned three specific insults. It called Musk the worst thing South Africa has ever done. It suggested that watching him on television felt like an episode of a show called "Hate on the Spectrum." Finally, it posited that if Musk had 100 more children, perhaps one of them would eventually talk to him. Culhane coined the term "epic vulgar-roast" for the specific type of insult he believed Musk sought.
This performance replaces Mike Myers, who had previously portrayed the mogul in a cold open sketch a year ago. Myers's version featured a maniacal bellowing of the phrase "Legalize Comedy" behind portrayals of Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Critics and viewers noted that the Myers impression relied heavily on broad, exaggerated physical comedy. In contrast, Culhane’s performance was described as more restrained and pointed, focusing on the verbal tics and specific recent events rather than physical caricature.
The timing of the sketch coincides with a four-hour investigative documentary by Alex Gibney that premiered earlier this fall. The film argues that Musk is more dangerous than his cartoonish public persona suggests. It notes that the billionaire has been buying up spectrum rights and spent one billion dollars on Skydance. The documentary also touches on allegations that Musk turned off Starshield, potentially endangering Ukrainian lives. The sketch ended with Jost expressing disbelief that such a figure could be the richest person in the world, a line that mirrored the documentary's central argument about underestimating Musk.
The show has a complex history with the billionaire. Five years ago, Musk hosted an episode that led to a boycott by several cast members and left Chloe Fineman crying. That appearance is now widely viewed as a mistake in the show's judgment. The recent segment can be interpreted as an attempt to correct that earlier tone, though some critics argue it further cements Musk's status as a colorful media character rather than a graver threat. Culhane’s performance leaves the possibility that he may reprise the role in future episodes.
