Steve Martin Kicks Off SNL50 by Roasting Trump and Lorne Michaels

Sixteen-time Saturday Night Live host Steve Martin returned to deliver the 50th anniversary monologue, and he wasn’t afraid to get a little mean.

Referencing President Donald Trump’s insistence on naming the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, Martin joked, “It was only a few days ago that Lorne [Michaels] told me I was doing the monologue, and I was actually vacationing on a friend’s boat down in the Gulf of Steve Martin.”

“This is the monologue,” Martin continued. “Traditionally, the weakest part of the show.”

He joked, “Yes, the monologue is like a rent-controlled tenant: It’s not going anywhere, even though it stinks.”

Martin roasted a couple of the previous hosts in the audience. “The great Bill Murray is here,” he said. “I wanted to make sure that Bill would be here tonight, so we didn’t invite him.”

Soon joining Martin was former SNL writer and six-time host John Mulaney, who also made fun of the show’s long list of former hosts and cast members.

“I believe that the heart and soul of this show is the celebrity hosts,” Mulaney said, “You know, as I look around, I see some of the most difficult people I have ever met in my entire life.”

He added, “Over the course of 50 years, 894 people have hosted Saturday Night Live, and it amazes me that only two of them have committed murder."

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Mulaney concluded, “Each week, a new celebrity host comes in with their own dynamic, and they throw everything off. But not you, Steve, because you have no dynamic.”

After Mulaney left, five-time host Martin Short entered the stage.

“Wait a second, I thought we were hosting together,” Short told Martin.

“Do you have your passport on you?” Martin asked. When Short said “no,” Martin yelled to someone off-stage, “ICE, get him!”