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Videos: 'Saturday Night Live' Parodies The R. Kelly Interview With Host Idris Elba

Ben Yakas

Published Mar 11, 2019

Modified Mar 11, 2019

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Ben Yakas

Published Mar 11, 2019

Modified Mar 11, 2019

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After John Mulaney turned a bodega bathroom into a musical extravaganza last week (in what was the best episode of Saturday Night Live in a long while), it felt somewhat likely there would be a comedown this week. After all, despite a short stint on The Office, first time host Idris Elba isn't exactly known for his comedic work. Elba may not have been able to cha cha like Mulaney, but he was a solid host. It wasn't the most memorable episode of SNL, but there were still a couple really great sketches to recommend.

First and foremost among the highlights, there was PowerPoint, which was a slam dunk that utilized the killer tag team of Kate McKinnon & Aidy Bryant as a pair of clueless receptionists who have a meltdown over some hilarious graphic design failures.

In a big and welcome surprise, SNL skipped the traditional (and generally bad) political Cold Open in favor of parodying the insane R. Kelly interview with Gayle King from earlier this week. Kenan Thompson is good at just about everything he tries on SNL, and his comedic timing was as precise as ever as the clueless, self-pitying Kelly here, so it was a stronger-than-usual way to start the episode.

But this wasn't SNL's only commentary on Kelly: Pete Davidson returned to Weekend Update to discuss alleged pedophile R. Kelly and alleged pedophile Michael Jackson, examining the ways people can separate art from the artists ethically while comparing them to the Catholic Church: "But if you support the Catholic church, isn’t that the same thing as being an R. Kelly fan? I don’t really see the difference — only one’s music is significantly better."

At the end of the segment, he also briefly commented on his relationship with new girlfriend Kate Beckinsale and their age difference: "Apparently, people have a crazy fascination with our age difference. But it doesn't really bother us. But then again, I'm new to this, so if you have questions about a relationship with a big age difference, just ask Leonardo DiCaprio, Jason Statham, Michael Douglas, Richard Gere, Jeff Goldblum, Scott Disick, George Clooney, Dane Cook, Derek Jeter, Bruce Willis, Harrison Ford, Tommy Lee, Alec Baldwin, Sean Penn, whoever the president of France is, Mel Gibson, Billy Joel, Mick Jagger, Sylvester Stallone, Eddie Murphy, Kelsey Grammar, Larry King, Larry King, Larry King, Rod Stewart and Donald Trump."

Also on Weekend Update, Goop staffer Baskin Johns (Heidi Gardener) was "blissed to be back" to hock more nonsense Goop products... and was joined by supervisor Fifer James (Gwyneth Paltrow), who explains that salt is really just angry sugar.

The Impossible Hulk was all about Bruce Banner (Elba) transforming into an emboldened white lady (Cecily Strong) whenever he is threatened—it was a really great premise that didn't quite take it far enough, but still worth your time.

Below, check out the good-not-great category of sketches this week, including their Momo commercial parody Bok Bok that relied on McKinnon's expressive face for laughs; gameshow Can I Play That, which mocks cancel culture and also leads up to a big James Bond joke; and Soccer Broadcast, which was a delight for any British Premiere League fans out there.

There was also a Kyle Mooney cut-for-time sketch about the struggles of New Cast Member Adam Zekeman (Mooney) to make it onto the show, making it doubly-ironic that the pre-taped sketch got cut in the end.

Check out the rest below, including a Magic Show sketch that was probably the weakest of the episode; a Gold Diggers sketch in which everyone looked like they were cosplaying as Steve Harvey; and Beck Bennett showcase Supportive Friend.

Watch Elba's Monologue, in which he talked about his career arc and landing a starring role on The Wire.

And watch the rest of Weekend Update below as well.

The musical guest was Khalid, who performed "Talk" and "Better," and who was infinitely better than last week's musical guest Thomas Rhett.

There's no new episode the next two weeks; SNL returns for a promising new episode on March 30th with host Sandra Oh and musical guest Tame Impala.

Tagged

idris elba

saturday night live

snl

television

Ben Yakas

Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

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