Twitter went bonkers over Elon Musk’s ‘SNL’ hosting stint

For two weeks now, people on social media have been speculating about what Elon Musk’s hosting stint on Saturday Night Live might entail. Will he talk about endorsing Kanye West for President? Will he finally reveal how to pronounce X Æ A-Xii (please, we’re so confused)? Will he explode as soon as he safely lands on stage? (Haaaaaa, we kid!)

What no one was expecting was for the Tesla and SpaceX CEO to announce during the opening monologue that he has Asperger’s Syndrome, a condition that makes social interactions and nonverbal communication cues difficult.

“I’m actually making history tonight as the first person with Aspergers to host SNL,” the tech mogul said to a round of cheers and applause. “Or at least the first to admit it.”

Um, has he never heard of Dan Akroyd or Jerry Seinfeld? But we digress…

That mere mention of the syndrome sent Twitter wild, with people showing both support and skepticism, and the word was trending on the social media platform all weekend.

If you thought that one namedrop would be the highlight of the show, then you didn’t stay up for his appearance on ‘Weekend Update,’ appearing in character as Lloyd Ostertag, a cryptocurrency specialist, speaking about Elon’s favourite new investing toy, Dogecoin.

Referring to himself as the “Dogefather,” he explained Dogecoin as, “a type of digital money, but instead of being controlled by a central government, they’re decentralized using block chain technology. Lately, prices have been soaring for cryptos like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and especially Dogecoin.”

He continued, “It started as a joke based on an internet meme. Now it’s taken off in a very real way . . . . it was created in 2013 and has a circulating supply of 117 billion coins, of which 113 billion have already been mined.”

That didn’t exactly fly with Michael Che, who kept demanding over and over again, “Yeah but what is Dogecoin?” Michael Che is all of us right now.

“It’s the future of currency. It’s an unstoppable financial vehicle that’s going to take over the world!”

“Oh, so it’s a hustle?” Che asked

“Yeah, it’s a hustle.”

And with that, Dogecoin shares plummeted. Smooth move, Dogefather.

Elon, who went to Queens University in Ontario and is currently partnered with Canadian singer/songwriter Grimes, did his gosh darndest during the live 90-minute sketch show, playing various characters like an awkward post-quarantine party guest, and an old west inventor with a tunnel boring idea (yes Elon, we get it, you love to be boring), but he had a few notable hits.

In a sketch where he played Wario, the evil brother is Mario Bros hero Mario, partner Grimes showed up to play Princess Peach, arguing in his defence.

And then, of course, there was the digital short “Chad on Mars” where he basically played himself while Pete Davidson reprised his notorious bonehead slacker character Chad, who goes to Mars with SpaceX to save humanity. Miley Cyrus, who was the musical guest, also had a cameo in the skit.

And if all of that wasn’t enough, the episode was incredibly noteworthy just because of the, uh, shall we say, *interesting* acting choices Elon made. Let’s just say he’s not a natural thespian. And Twitter will never let him forget it.