‘SNL’ Cold Open: Pam Bondi Crashes NCAA Post-game Show After Trump Firing
What To Know
- The SNL cold open parodied an NCAA post-game show, with cast members playing sports analysts who repeatedly veered into political commentary.
- The skit referenced the recent firing of former U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, with Kenan Thompson’s Charles Barkley character criticizing her tenure and celebrating her departure.
- Ashley Padilla appeared as Pam Bondi, humorously lamenting her firing and joking about making history as the first woman attorney general to be fired.
Saturday Night Live‘s latest cold open featured former U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi crashing an NCAA post-game show after President Donald Trump fired her.
On Saturday, April 4, the SNL cold open strayed from its typical skit starring James Austin Johnson as Trump. Instead, Johnson played Ernie Johnson, Kenan Thompson played Charles Barkley, Kam Patterson played Kenny Smith, and Jeremy Culhane played Coach Bruce Pearl.
As the sports analysts attempted to talk basketball, Barkley kept going off-topic with political commentary. He brought up the war in Iran, declaring that “war is terrible.” He added, “I don’t care who started it, but we need to end it.”
Barkley also blasted the Artemis II space mission as a “waste of money.” He explained, “Now, I respect the astronauts, but they ain’t even going to the moon. They just flying around the moon. What’s the point of that? It’s like telling your kids you’re going to Disney World, and then you just take them to Goofy Lot D and then go home.”
Finally, Barkley interrupted the basketball talk to weigh in on Bondi’s April 2 firing.
“As attorney general, Pam Bondi was — and I don’t say this often — terrible,” Barkley said. “It is a shame when somebody gets fired. But we should all be glad that that freckle-chested dragon lady is gone.”
That’s when Johnson announced that the FCC demanded equal screen time since the broadcast had been discussing politics. Ashley Padilla as Bondi then crashed the set.
“So great to be here at the Final 4… years of this country,” Bondi continued, “The truth is, I was amazing at my job. And I am proud to say I made history as the first woman ever to be fired as attorney general. I shattered that glass exit door!”
After breaking down in tears, Bondi lamented, “They threw my headshot in the trash like it was the Epstein files.”
“You could work in sports,” Barkley, as Thompson, pointed out. “I mean, you already look like a woman’s basketball coach who got suspended for pulling on a player’s braid.”
Saturday Night Live, Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC
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