Saturday Night Live

SNL DID ARIANA GRANDE A BIG FAVOR!

Most of the critics agreed that Ariana Grande nailed her recent hosting duties on Saturday Night Live, and her quick wit and impersonations caught the attention of the powers that be in Las Vegas. Mere hours after she hosted SNL, Ariana was presented with an offer to have a residency at the still under construction Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. The property formerly known as The Mirage is being rebranded and a new guitar shaped tower is currently under construction. The property won’t be open until 2027 but nonetheless Ariana was offered the opportunity to be their first residency. Since these shows and their elaborate productions can take a great deal of time to produce, Ariana has until the end of the year to sign on the dotted line. Ironically, if she passes, the next in line is someone she impersonated – Miley Cyrus!

PHOTO: SNL

MICHAEL CHE IS LOOKING FOR MORE THAN INSPIRATION

Saturday Night Live star Michael Che is looking for love and he’s not afraid to use technology in his quest for some romance. Michael is swiping up on Raya, a more upscale app geared toward creative professionals. My source was shocked to match with Michael on the app and it was DEFINITELY him,  since all users are verified before they become active.

Photo: NBC Mary Ellen Matthews

HERE’S WHAT WE KNOW

Christina Applegate just revealed that she has 30 lesions on her brain due to her courageous battle with MS. We just learned that Christina has turned to the Wahl Protocol Diet in hopes of alleviating her debilitating symptoms. The diet, developed by MS inflicted Dr. Terry Wahl, has proven to help many patients although it will take time to see if Christina benefits from the plan -which includes lots of leafy greens, lean meats and limited sweets and dairy.

A few days ago, Diddy’s multiple homes were raided by the Department of Homeland Security over allegations and sex trafficking and we are now hearing that his ex-girlfriend, Jennifer Lopez has been asked to sit for an interview! Both the FBI and Homeland Security are curious to find out what she may have seen when she and Diddy were a thing from 1999-2001. My source says that J.Lo is LIVID over being dragged into this mess, but nonetheless plans to cooperate since she doesn’t want to risk getting subpoenaed.

Carol Burnett is still making headlines at 90-years-old thanks to her turn on Palm Royale, the hot new series on Apple TV+. Carol has gotten rave reviews for her performance in the campy comedy/drama and now the folks at Saturday Night Live have noticed. Despite her illustrious comedic career, Carol has never hosted SNL. That could be about to change as we just heard that producers are trying to work with her schedule about hosting the still popular show as the end of this season or more likely early next season.

The world found out this week that pro footballer Aaron Rodgers won’t be RFK Jr.’s vice-presidential running mate, as Kennedy chose Bay Area mogul Nicole Shanahan as his pick. Here’s what we know: Aaron was actually asked before Nicole to join the ticket but he was never going to run with Kennedy because he has other political aspirations. As my source put it, he didn’t want to shoot his shot on this long-shot campaign but instead plans to run for Senator once he retires from football.

Beyoncé’s country album drops this week and here’s something you read here FIRST. Weeks ago we told you Beyonce was doing a duet with legend Dolly Parton and in the just released soundtracks it shows she’s covering Dolly’s popular sing Jolene. Our source says Dolly and Beyonce did a duet for the album and hoped to keep it a secret, which they did for everyone else BUT this website.

CAN CHLOE FINEMAN BRING TOM CRUISE TO SNL?

We were recently SHOCKED to hear that the lovable and talented Chloe Fineman from SNL was born into a Scientology family! How devoted she is, we don’t know. But we DO know that SNL producers have for YEARS been trying to get Scientologist Tom Cruise to host or make a cameo appearance on the show and he has always turned them down. (Although two of his ex-wives HAVE hosted) Now the SNL top brass are urging Chloe to use her Scientology connection to persuade him to appear. Our inside source says Tom has avoided SNL because the show has poked fun at Scientology and HIM in the past. To her credit, Chloe has a sense of humor about it all, so she’s working to get Tom to bury the hatchet and make an appearance later this season.

Photo: IMDB

KENAN THOMPSON: NO HARD FEELINGS – REALLY?

Nice to hear that there are civilized divorces happening these days – even in Hollywood. SNL’s Kenan Thompson is a prime example. He and his wife Christina Evangeline actually separated a few years ago, and finally filed for divorce in April- without malice. After 14 years together they just “grew apart” and remain on good terms- they co-parent and spend holidays together with their two daughters. Kenan REALLY proved his good intentions when his estranged wife started dating his SNL costar Chris Redd. (Chris also just costarred with Thompson on his ill-fated series Kenan for 2 seasons!) It’s hard to imagine a man not being disturbed by his wife dating his good friend, but so far Kenan is living up to his nice-guy image…

Photo Credit: BACKGRID-USA

WE DIDN’T WANT TO KNOW THE TRUTH ABOUT BILL MURRAY

Looks like most of us chose to ignore the hints about the dark side of Bill Murray – after all, we loved him on SNL– not to mention Ghostbusters and Groundhog Day (above.) His two wives tried to tell us about his bad behavior and we didn’t pay attention. He cheated on his first wife (they had 2 kids) and married his mistress Jennifer. Four more kids later Jennifer claimed he was abusive, addicted to weed and alcohol, and told her she was “lucky he didn’t kill her.“ She got a restraining order and a divorce. Recently Lucy Liu said he made “inexcusable” comments on the Charlie’s Angels set (DYING to know what they were) and Richard Dreyfuss called him a “drunken bully.” We feel bad that the movie Being Mortal, that Aziz Ansari wrote and was directing, has been closed down because of Bill’s “inappropriate behavior.” This film is a big deal for Aziz – it’s his first. Hopefully, this situation can be fixed.

Photo: Groundhog Day

BOWEN YANG OR FAYE DUNAWAY?

Had to laugh when we searched for SNL’s Bowen Yang on Instagram and found that his Instagram name is fayedunaway! One of his photos features Taylor Swift and Bowen told Jimmy Fallon how the pic came about. Bowen says he was lurking outside Taylor’s dressing room when she performed on the show last month, HOPING he could get a photo with her. When he worked up the courage to ask, he said she was extremely nice and pulled the star of her video, Sadie Sink into the photo with them. Taylor looked around -who can take it? Ryan Reynolds, of all people, volunteered and the result is this cute photo of all of them in Taylor’s dressing room.

Photo: Ryan Reynolds

TRAVIS BARKER IS AMAZED BY HIS OWN TRANQUILITY

Drummer Travis Barker is a changed man. And it looks like he has Kourtney Kardashian to thank for these changes. His 2008 plane crash that landed him horribly burned in the hospital for 11 weeks undergoing 27 surgeries, left him with a fear of flying, and suicidal. He became a recluse. That is, until he started spending more time with old friend Kourtney. Their friendship developed into romance, and with her, he’s flying again. Not only flying, but smooching in public with no qualms. He seems to be enjoying the attention they get just walking down the street in New York in the photo, above. Kourtney was with him backstage (more PDA!) when he drummed for Young Thug on SNL this weekend. His shirtless and highly active drumming got him a burst of applause…

Photo Credit: BACKGRID-USA

DON’T BLAME KIM KARDASHIAN FOR THAT LOUSY SNL SHOW

It would be easy to blame Kim Kardashian West for that lame Saturday Night Live episode she just hosted- but don’t. She was the most interesting element of the show – even with her shortcomings. Visually (clothing-wise) she always gave us something sexy and colorful to look at, but she had very limited physicality and barely moved- always maintaining a flattering angle and a clear view of cue cards. Besides looking a bit stiff, she read her lines in a flat and monotonous manner. Her opening monologue would have been much funnier if she read her lines with some sly enthusiasm and appropriate pauses. Aside from The Peoples Kourt skit, the WRITERS should be blamed for the mediocrity of the show- THEY dropped the ball – Kim gave it her best.

Photo: NBC

KIM KARDASHIAN: SUCCESS THROUGH INTIMIDATION?

She admitted she was very nervous about hosting Saturday Night Live this week so maybe Kim Kardashian showed up on the FIRST rehearsal day dressed like THIS to intimidate the cast! Her head-to-toe black outfit is dead serious and doesn’t have a hint of humor. We’re betting the cast was taken aback by Kim when she first walked in, but they soon warmed up to her. She may not LOOK like it, but she does love to have fun…

Photo Credit: BACKGRID-USA