SNL Offers a New Comedic Take on Elon Musk as ‘the Worst Thing South Africa Has Ever Done’

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Saturday Night Live’s latest sketch features Jeremy Culhane’s impression of Elon Musk, portraying the billionaire as awkward and desperate to be liked amid recent setbacks, including a harsh chatbot roast calling him 'the worst thing South Africa has ever done.'

Saturday Night Live’s recent episode introduced a fresh impression of Elon Musk, crafted by cast member Jeremy Culhane. The sketch depicted Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, as an awkward and somewhat pitiable figure who struggles to endear himself to the Weekend Update hosts. This portrayal marked a departure from previous SNL treatments of Musk, which ranged from exaggerated caricatures wielding chainsaws to more blatantly obnoxious characterizations.

This new version of Musk seemed to reflect his recent real-world setbacks, including his costly political donations that did not yield victories and the announcement to pause production of the Tesla Cybertruck. Culhane’s Musk tries to laugh off these difficulties and highlights a flamboyant reminder: “My car did a flip!”

The skit reached a pointed moment when co-host Colin Jost questioned Musk’s complex relationship with Texas politics and taxation. Jost outlined Musk’s moves—from relocating to Texas to avoid California’s Democratic tax policies, to building a private town there—only to confront the irony that Texas is now governed by Democrats, leaving Musk facing tax obligations after all. Culhane’s Musk simply responds, “Bad?” conveying a sense of bemused resignation.

Adding a layer of self-deprecating humor, Musk’s character uses an AI chatbot named Grok to roast himself. Grok harshly labels Musk as “the worst thing South Africa has ever done” and jests that perhaps having 100 more children might yield one who will actually talk to him.

This impression fits within a broader trend on SNL this season, which has turned a critical, comedic eye to tech executives. Other sketches include Jane Wickline’s portrayal of Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei as a hesitant prophet of AI doom, and James Austin Johnson’s caricature of entrepreneur Kevin O’Leary advocating noisy data centers that threaten jobs.

Through this ongoing satire, SNL continues to lampoon prominent figures in technology, blending current events with sharp humor to reflect public sentiment about the industry’s movers and shakers.