Maya Rudolph Returns As Host & Bowen Yang Sounds OFF On Anti-Asian Hate — Here Are All The Best SNL Moments!

Guess who is back and better than ever?!

Maya Rudolph returned to the Studio 8H stage to host last night’s episode of Saturday Night Live. This is the second time the 48-year-old actress has led the NBC comedy show, as she previously helmed an episode in 2012. And boy, did she not disappoint with first-time musical guest Jack Harlow by her side!

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Refreshingly, the cold open took a break from politics and instead slammed Miami Beach spring breaks in a game show called “Snatched! Vaxed! or Waxed!” Take a look at the roast (below):

For her opening monologue, the former cast member made it a family affair. In it, she said:

“Some of you may know me because, well, I used to work here, and some of you may know me by the name mommy because I gave birth to you. I have four incredible kids, and they’re all here tonight … Just a heads-up to my kids, tonight mommy’s going to put on a lot of wigs and do a lot of weird voices. So it’s just going to be like a typical day at home. I’ll just be wearing a bra.”

Rudolph then noted how her kids “are real huge fans of the show and having them here in the place where I grew up is so special.” The touching moment then motivated her to drop some knowledge to the show’s newest cast members — Andrew Dismukes, Punkie Johnson, and Lauren Holt. However, the star got some of the deets a little mixed up as she reflected on her time on SNL. And she referred to some of her co-stars as characters from The Breakfast Club.

“Rachel Dratch. She was the princess. She was so perfect with her red hair and all her freckles. Jimmy was the bad boy. Always strutting around in his Jean jacket and his fingerless leather gloves. He was 100 percent trouble, 100 percent hot stuff. And the jock, he was none other than Mr. Emilio Estevez.”

Ch-ch-check it out (below):

 

Oh man, Maya never fails to show us how it is done!

Now, the late-night sketch series couldn’t have Ms. Rudolph on and not bring back the famous Beyoncé impression. One of the best sketches saw the Lemonade artist sit down for some spicy wings on an episode of “Hot Ones.” Joining host Sean Evans, played by Mikey Day, Rudolph’s Beyoncé immediately joked:

“I still can’t tell if this is beneath me. But my sister, Solange, loves this show, so I said I’d do it.”

Evans then suggests they start with a mild wing, but the Black Is King maker shoots the idea down, saying:

“Mild? Come on, now. I’m from Texas, baby. This girl can handle her wings. Let’s start with this one right here.”

The first wing she chooses is Hitler’s Anus Roasted Reaper Sauce with a Scoville of 135,600, which turned out to be too much for her to handle. Though, Queen Bey tried to keep her cool and tackled the next level wing covered in Devil’s Diarrhea Scorpion Sauce, with a Scoville of 676,000. Yikes!

Watch how the hot ordeal turned out (below):

 

Too funny!

But besides Rudolph… The highlight of the night had to be Bowen Yang, who delivered a powerful message addressing the rise in anti-Asian hate and racism in America. Joining Colin Jost for a segment on “Weekend Update,” the actor started to share how people can help out after the Atlanta spa shootings.

“Things for Asians in this country have been really bleak for the past two weeks. And all the weeks before that since forever. But there’s a lot of work to do.”

After making some jokes about the stock Instagram suggestions about possible ways to help and places to donate, Yang took a serious turn to explain the difficulties in speaking out about the recent violent attacks.

“What can I say to help how insanely bad things are? If someone’s personality is ‘Punch an Asian Grandma,’ it’s not a dialogue. I have an Asian grandma, you want to punch her. There ain’t no common ground.”

He continued:

“Look, I can’t address any of this without bringing up class or gender or imperialism. I don’t even want to be doing this Update piece. I wanted to do my character, gay Passover bunny. But it was too smart for this show. I’m just a comedian. I don’t have the answers. But I’m not just looking for them online, I’m looking around me.”

Yang concluded the piece, saying:

“I don’t know what’s helpful to say to everyone, but that’s what I say to myself. Fuel up. Do more. It’s the year of the metal ox, which basically means a car. So everyone, get in, buckle up, it’s no pee breaks, we ride at dawn, Grandma!”

 

As we mentioned before, Jack Harlow served as the night’s musical guest. The 22-year-old rapper kicked off his debut with a medley of Tyler Herro and What’s Poppin.

 

Then, Adam Levine made a surprise appearance for Harlow’s second performance of the track Same Guy.

Wow!

In case you missed the episode, here are some more hilarious sketches (below):

What was your favorite skit on last night’s episode of SNL? Let us know in the comments (below)!

[Image via Saturday Night Live/YouTube]

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