‘Saturday Night Live’ Season 49 Kicks Off with Surprising Host: Pete Davidson
Get ready for the highly anticipated return of 'Saturday Night Live' for its 49th season! Joining as the first host is the hilarious Pete Davidson, while the electrifying Ice Spice takes the stage as the musical guest Don't miss this exciting night of laughter and incredible performances!
Pete Davidson Cindy Ord/MG21/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
Saturday Night Live will be back for its 49th season, and Pete Davidson will be hosting the first episode. The official SNL Instagram page revealed the lineup on October 4th, with Davidson set to make his hosting debut on the October 14 premiere. The musical guest for the episode will be Ice Spice.
Bad Bunny has been announced as both the host and musical guest for the October 21 episode, as revealed in a subsequent photo.
Earlier, Davidson was scheduled to host SNL in May along with Lil Uzi Vert as the musical guest. However, the episode was canceled due to the Writers Guild of America strike. On May 2, NBC stated, "SNL will be airing repeats until further notice."
Will Heath/NBC
Ahead of the cancellation, Davidson, who was an SNL cast member from 2014 to 2022, was prepared for the possibility that the show might not go on.
SNL executive producer Lorne Michaels informed me a few months ago that I would be hosting. However, there was a possibility of a writers strike this week, which led to uncertainty. I had been preparing for this role for two to three months, but we would only find out on Monday if it would still happen or not.
While the WGA strike was resolved on September 26 after five months, the SAG-AFTRA strike, which started in July, is still ongoing. SAG-AFTRA has provided an explanation as to why SNL is allowed to continue despite the strike.
The statement shared via the union's website began, "SAG-AFTRA members appearing on Saturday Night Live, whether as hosts, guests, or cast members, are operating under the Network Code agreement. This should not be confused with a contract that we are currently striking. They are fully abiding by all SAG-AFTRA strike rules and we stand united in supporting them as they fulfill their contractual obligations."
The entire cast of SNL's 48th season will be returning for season 49, including Michael Che, Mikey Day, Andrew Dismukes, Chloe Fineman, Heidi Gardner, Punkie Johnson, Colin Jost, Ego Nwodim, Kenan Thompson and Bowen Yang. They will all be back in action on October 14. James Austin Johnson and Sarah Sherman have also been promoted from featured players to repertory status for the upcoming season. Joining the familiar faces is newcomer Chloe Troast, who will be a featured player. Troast has previously collaborated with SNL's comedy group Please Don't Destroy, which consists of Ben Marshall, John Higgins, and Martin Herlihy.
Season 49 of Saturday Night Live premieres on NBC Saturday, October 14, at 11:30 p.m. ET.
In this article
Bad Bunny
Ice Spice
