You can always count on Saturday Night Live to address whatever is going on in these wild political times. The Saturday, May 5 episode of SNL did not hold back, and the show started with a cold open that featured many of the regular players in the current Stormy Daniels saga. President Donald Trump was portrayed by Alec Baldwin, and Ben Stiller reprised his role as Trump lawyer, Michael Cohen, but the show cast the role of Stormy Daniels with none other than adult film star Stormy Daniels. This video of Stormy Daniels' surprise appearance on SNL shocked the audience, and many people took to Twitter to share their surprise.
The skit opened by playing on the latest news that the FBI reportedly had a pen register of Cohen's phone calls, which means they have records of Cohen's call logs but no content of the conversations, according to NBC News. Stiller as Cohen was then at a pay phone to call President Trump, and the final call made in the skit was to Daniels. In the skit, Baldwin's Trump tells Cohen, "Call up Stormy Daniels and fix this once and for all." Previous to the Daniels bit, a slew of celebs played different characters related to the Trump administration, but fans were shook once the real Daniels appeared on the screen.
Once on the phone, Baldwin's Trump implores Daniels to "stop making such a big deal about this." He continues, "Everyone knows it's just an act." Daniels (who has been getting plenty of attention for her witty tweets) replies, "I work in adult films. We're not really known for our acting."
Baldwin's Trump then says, "Just tell me, what do you need for this all to go away?" Daniels replies, "A resignation." Baldwin's Trump guffaws at the idea and then says to Daniels, "I solved North and South Korea. Why can't I solve us?" Daniels closes the skit with her reply, "Sorry, Donald. It's too late for that. I know you don't believe in climate change, but a storm's a-comin', baby!" Ouch, Stormy!
People could not believe what they saw: The real Daniels spilling real tea on SNL.
Many people were kind of living for it, though.
Some of the issues that Baldwin's Trump wanted to "go away" might be in reference to new developments this week. Daniels currently has a defamation lawsuit against Trump, which she filed on Monday, April 30 after President Trump called the composite sketch of a man who allegedly threatened Daniels in 2011 "a total con job," according to CNN. (Cohen's lawyer, Brent Blakely, denied Cohen was involved in any such action or that it even took place; the White House also denied the claim.) Daniels also has a lawsuit against Cohen over the legality of a 2016 NDA that she reportedly signed in return for $130,000 to keep quiet about the alleged 2006 affair between Daniels and Trump (Trump has denied the affair.)
Earlier in the cold open, SNL also covered new revelations in the Daniels saga that Trump's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, revealed to Sean Hannity on Fox News on Wednesday, May 2. Giuliani said Trump had repaid Cohen for the $130,000 payment, and many people noted that this news seems to contradict Trump's previous stance that he didn't know about the 2016 payment to Daniels. After Giuliani's Hannity appearance, President Trump tweeted on Thursday morning,
Mr. Cohen, an attorney, received a monthly retainer, not from the campaign and having nothing to do with the campaign, from which he entered into, through reimbursement, a private contract between two parties, known as a non-disclosure agreement, or NDA. These agreements are very common among celebrities and people of wealth. In this case it is in full force and effect and will be used in Arbitration for damages against Ms. Clifford (Daniels). The agreement was used to stop the false and extortionist accusations made by her about an affair, despite already having signed a detailed letter admitting that there was no affair. Prior to its violation by Ms. Clifford and her attorney, this was a private agreement. Money from the campaign, or campaign contributions, played no roll in this transaction.
Kate McKinnon played Giuliani, and said he was "Trump's lawyer and his worst nightmare." Stiller's Cohen loops in Baldwin's Trump, and then Cohen says, "Guys, can we please just decide on one lie and stick to it? 'Cause our stories are all over the place." McKinnon's Giuliani then says, "Can we hurry this up? I'm supposed to do 25 more talk show appearances today, and I'm trying to make it like an Advent calendar where I reveal one new crime on each show."
People were also very much here for McKinnon's Giuliani as well as the other celeb appearances. Throughout the sketch, Jimmy Fallon appeared as Jared Kushner, Scarlett Johansson was Ivanka Trump, and former SNL cast member Martin Short appeared as Dr. Harold Bornstein.
This star-studded cold open was the first skit of the night, and SNL definitely dug right in to headlines without pulling any punches. The show hasn't been shy about addressing the tumultuous times in the Trump White House, and from the responses on Twitter, many viewers are enjoying every second of the satire.
