Ben Stiller's back on SNL, and this time his Michael Cohen impression is backed by a whole new cast of legal and political figures partaking in the week's news. In a perfect surprise, Stormy Daniels played herself on Saturday Night Live at the end of another star-studded cold open. Brace yourselves for the morning tweets, everyone!
“I know you don’t believe in climate change," she says towards the end of the sketch, "but a Storm’s a coming, baby!" "I've never been so scared and so horny at the same time," replies Alec Baldwin's Trump before the two of them intro'd the show, kicking things off for host and musical guest Donald Glober.
The sketch portrayed President Trump and Cohen as trying to keep their story straight on an increasing daisy chain of phone calls from family and advisors. In real life, Daniels is currently involved in a lawsuit with the president after alleging that she had an affair with Trump in 2006 and was paid $130,000 in hush money by Cohen, per CNN. The President has denied knowledge of the payoff, but just this week, Rudy Giuliani claimed on Fox News that Cohen's payment was reimbursed by the then Presidential candidate before the 2016 election was over. Daniels has also claimed she was threatened by an unknown man who wanted her to keep quiet. CNN reported that on April 30, Daniels filed a new lawsuit over defamation of character.
“Just tell me," asks Baldwin's POTUS during the cold open, "what do you need for this all to go away?” “A resignation," Daniels answers. "Yeah right," Baldwin scoffed. "Being President is like doing porn. Once you do it, it's hard to do anything else."
There are also some jokes about adult film stars and acting ability — Daniels is a performer, writer, and director in the genre — as well as poll numbers, and a Shark Week reference. Watch Daniels' part of the sketch below:
She wasn't the only cameo in the episode. Starting off with Ben Stiller reprising his role as Michael Cohen, they were joined by Martin Short as Trump doctor Dr. Harold Bernstein as well as Scarlett Johansson and Jimmy Fallon as Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner.
Was Daniels really calling for Trump's resignation in real life? It is a comedy show, after all, and she was playing a fictional version of herself and talking to fictional versions of real people in her life. Saturday Night Live is not a press conference. However, that is already how ABC news is framing the comedic bit, and will potentially be the focus of tomorrow's discourse.
2018 is the wild frontier, sometimes — but Saturday Night Live often has the power to surprise the audience. Isn't it wild that a comedy veteran like Short and a freakin' Avenger like Johansson were almost overshadowed by this real life shocker? Here's the first half of the open as well, featuring short:
It's too many cameos for one clip, honestly. This is not the first time that Johansson has played the First Daughter, and it likely won't be the last. Fallon has also appeared as her husband as well.
Will Daniels return to Saturday Night Live? Who can say? At the speed at which the news tends to travel these days, it's honestly impossible to predict what's going to happen next. Still, a tangled mess like this is rife for Saturday Night Live skewering. The Giuliani aspect of the story was also touched upon during Weekend Update. As for the cold open, it's no wonder that it took several surprising cameos to pull it off. The fact that they got the real Daniels to appear makes it all the more impressive.
