Saturday Night Live's cold open this week took aim at Kristi Noem's recent firing from the Department of Homeland Security and Pete Hegseth's handling of Iran strategy, with Colin Jost and Ashley Padilla stepping into the roles. Despite Ryan Gosling hosting, the sketch focused on political satire rather than a Hail Mary reference.
Padilla portrayed Noem as an 'ICE Barbie' who insisted she 'self-deported' rather than being fired, echoing Noem's congressional testimony blaming Donald Trump for controversial airport TV advertisements and office relationships. 'As I told my plastic surgeon, the work is never done,' Padilla's Noem remarked, capturing the former governor's perceived tone-deafness.
Jost's Hegseth mocked media scrutiny of US-Iran tensions, quipping, 'You’re all playing chess and I’m playing Grand Theft Auto,' and 'If we don’t know what we’re doing, then Iran definitely doesn’t know what we’re doing.' The sketch referenced Trump's aggressive posture towards Iran, the Epstein Files, Texas primaries, and the funeral of Jesse Jackson as source material.
Noem was dismissed on March 5 and replaced by Senator Markwayne Mullins, a former MMA fighter. The cold open notably avoided a cameo by James Austin Johnson as Trump, with SNL opting for a leaner approach. The episode also featured musical guest Gorillaz, while Gosling is set to star in the upcoming film Project Hail Mary.
