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Actor Don Cheadle hosted NBC’s Saturday Night Live for the first time in his long career on Saturday night, playing director Spike Lee during one of the show’s longest bits, a game show parody called “Celebrity Family Feud: Oscars Nominees.”
He went up against Melissa Villaseñor doing her recurring impression of Lady Gaga, who is nominated for her performance in A Star Is Born and her original song “Shallow.”
Kate McKinnon appeared as Glenn Close, nominated for The Wife, and Beck Bennett played Sam Elliott, also nominated for A Star Is Born, while Kyle Mooney played Bradley Cooper. Pete Davidson played Rami Malek, nominated for Bohemian Rhapsody, and Cecily Strong played a very drunk Olivia Colman, nominated for The Favourite.
Cheadle also appeared as a high school teacher in a parody of a closed-network freshman class show called “Fresh Takes” where students discussed the latest gossip, including a segment called “Cold Sore Watch.” He also appeared in a Nailed It-like baking show where chefs tried to replicate cartoon characters as cakes, yielding monstrous creations like Cheadle’s disturbing take on the Cookie Monster.
In a sketch about a bar fight, characters played by Cheadle and castmembers couldn’t quite get into the fighting mood because the bubbly song “Lollipop” by Mika was playing.
In a commercial parody Cheadle appeared in, a tent shaped like a dog for couples to have sex in to avoid the awkwardness of their dogs watching them was touted. In another commercial parody, he played a cockroach who made himself so at home in someone’s house that he slept with a man’s wife.
Cheadle also took the hosting job on the sketch show as an opportunity to make a few statements with his attire. At one point during the program, he wore a shirt that said “Protect trans kids” on it.
Don Cheadle made a silent statement of support for transgender children while hosting #SNL. https://t.co/mmc8zqGCmE
— Twitter Moments (@TwitterMoments) February 17, 2019
And at the close of the show, Cheadle wore a Soviet Union-style hockey jersey that had Trump’s name on the back and the number 45.
Don Cheadle wore a Soviet Union hockey jersey with “Trump” and “45” on the back at the end of SNL after hosting. Shade level: Masterful pic.twitter.com/hrDjPRulXy
— Adam Best (@adamcbest) February 17, 2019
See videos from Cheadle’s best SNL moments below.
Feb. 17, 8:31 a.m. Updated with Cheadle’s attire choices.
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