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‘SNL’ TV Ratings Plummet to Record Low Week After Elon Musk’s Guest Hosting Gig

Things looked pretty grim for Saturday Night Live this week. Following Elon Musk’s hosting gig, Saturday’s episode took a ratings nosedive. The episode, hosted by Keegan Michael Key with musical guest Olivia Rodrigo garnered a dismal 3.5 million viewers. That’s less than half of who tuned in to watch Elon Musk’s episode. Elon Musk’s run on the show wasn’t even the highest-rated of the season.

Keegan Michael Key, formerly of the duo Key and Peele, is a comedian known for his work on Tomorrowland, Keanu, The Predator, and Lets Be Cops. Musical Guest Olivia Rodrigo is a young rising star who was recently put in the spotlight for her song “Drivers License.”

Elon Musk Faced Rough Week After ‘SNL’ Episode

Elon Musk’s episode was the third most-watched episode of the season, but that doesn’t mean it was successful for the billionaire. In fact, some experts estimate the episode likely cost Elon Musk $20 billion. In the 24 hours after the show started, Dogecoin’s stock dropped almost 30%. Dogecoin is a cryptocurrency that Elon Musk is a big fan of. In fact, the sell-off of Dogecoin was so frenzied that Robinhood, an investing app, crashed.

According to Forbes, the fortune of the billionaire dropped $20 billion following his SNL hosting gig. Shares of Tesla have dropped 15% in the following week.

Of course, not all of this was due to a simple hosting gig. When it comes to Tesla, the billionaire recently went back on a statement he made in February that people would be able to pay for a Tesla with bitcoin, citing the “rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for Bitcoin mining and transactions.”

Still, according to Forbes, the man has around $145 Billion to his name, which is $110 billion richer than he was a year ago. While it’s unlikely that the Tesla drops had anything to do with his time on SNL, Dogecoin likely did, displaying drops in stock almost immediately after the episode started.

The Episode Received Lukewarm Ratings

Reviews of the SNL episode varied from lukewarm to scathing, and not just because of Musk’s performance. Many viewed the comedy writing as quite lacking. One particular sketch, Gen Z Hospital, trended, with multiple people mocking it for being completely out of touch.

A highlight of the episode featured Elon Musk’s eccentric partner, singer/songwriter Grimes. She featured in a sketch where Musk dressed as Wario while she dressed as Princess Peach. “Wario” also trended on Twitter.

Next week’s episode is the finale. Anna Taylor Joy, who made big waves with her performance on The Queen’s Gambit is set to host SNL. Meanwhile, Lil Nas X is the musical guest. Hopefully, for SNL, the two will draw in enough intrigue to boost their ratings.