With her third studio album, You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love, on the way, Olivia Rodrigo stopped by Studio 8H to host Saturday Night Live for the first time. The Grammy-winning pop star also served as musical guest, a role she previously assumed on Seasons 46 (2021) and 49 (2023).
Since her latest appearance coincides with the release of The Devil Wears Prada 2, Rodrigo received the Miranda Priestly treatment from James Austin Johnson:
Rodrigo has earned 14 Grammy nominations, winning prizes in 2022 for Best New Artist, Best Pop Vocal Album (Sour), and Best Pop Solo Performance (“Drivers License”). You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love will hit shelves on June 12.
Saturday Night Live has already announced the final two hosts for season 51: Matt Damon (with musical guest Noah Kahan) on May 9; and Will Ferrell (with musical guest Paul McCartney) on May 16. SNL recently added 11 Emmy Awards to its shelf in September, bringing its overall tally to 112.
Here are the best moments from Olivia Rodrigo’s first hosting gig:
COLD OPEN: HEGSETH AND PATEL IRAN PRESS BRIEFING
With the war in Iran raging on, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt (Ashley Padilla) brought out Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (Colin Jost) to field questions from reporters. “This war has been a movie,” Hegseth declared, “specifically The Neverending Story.” Hegseth then introduced “soon-to-be-fired” FBI Director Kash Patel (Aziz Ansari) to combat rumors that he’s on President Trump’s bad side. If anything, Patel is feeling pretty confident about his current standing, considering the would-be White House Correspondents Dinner assassin’s manifesto targeted every cabinet member except for him. “You get a shout out like that in a psycho’s manifesto, you must be doing something right,” Patel bragged.
OPENING MONOLOGUE
“They say your favorite SNL cast is the one you grew up watching as a teenager,” Olivia Rodrigo announced as she took the stage at Studio 8H for the first time. Considering she just turned 23, that cast includes Mikey Day, Chloe Fineman, and Kenan Thompson, all of whom “came back just for me.” Since her first hit single was about getting her drivers license, Rodrigo premiered a somber new ballad about her latest milestone: getting her California REAL ID. (Anybody else feeling really old right now?)
SHOP TV: LAVA CAKE
Daisy Ray (Olivia Rodrigo) stopped by Shop TV to sell her famous lava cake that comes in a reusable tin. Unfortunately for hosts Mikey Day and Ashley Padilla, Daisy’s famous lava cakes come out of the tin with a… um… shall we say… starfish shape. That’s just the fudge hole, Daisy explained, which doesn’t make it that much better.
MAKING YOUR EX JEALOUS
When Olivia Rodrigo runs into her ex (Ben Marshall) at a birthday party, she asks the guy sitting next to her (Tommy Brennan) to pretend to be her new boyfriend. Thinking it’s for real, Marshall asks the lady sitting at his table (Ashley Padilla) to pretend to be his new girlfriend, and she takes the act a little too far…
MUSICAL PERFORMANCES: ‘DROP DEAD’ AND ‘BEGGED’
In addition to hosting, Olivia Rodrigo also premiered two new tracks from her upcoming album You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love. First, rock legend Debbie Harry introduced Rodrigo’s performance of the the poppy love song “drop dead.” Then, Heated Rivalry star Connor Storrie — who hosted SNL earlier this season — introduced her second number, the mournful ballad “begged.”
Rodrigo is the 18th person to host SNL during this 51st season, following Bad Bunny (with musical guest Doja Cat) on Oct. 4; Amy Poehler (with musical guest Role Model) on Oct. 11; Sabrina Carpenter (who was also the musical guest) on Oct. 18; Miles Teller (with musical guest Brandi Carlile) on Nov. 1; Nikki Glaser (with musical guest Sombr) on Nov. 8; Glen Powell (with musical guest Olivia Dean) on Nov. 15; Melissa McCarthy on Dec. 6; Josh O’Connor (with musical guest Lily Allen) on Dec. 13; Ariana Grande (with musical guest Cher) on Dec. 20; Finn Wolfhard (with musical guest A$AP Rocky) on Jan. 17; Teyana Taylor (with musical guest Geese) on Jan. 24; Alexander Skarsgård (with musical guest Cardi B.) on Jan 31; Connor Storrie (with musical guest Mumford & Sons) on Feb. 28; Ryan Gosling (with musical guest Gorillaz) on Mar. 7; Harry Styles (who was also musical guest) on Mar. 14; Jack Black (with musical guest Jack White) on Apr. 4; and Colman Domingo (with musical guest Anitta) on Apr. 11.