{"id":361897,"date":"2025-12-21T13:53:12","date_gmt":"2025-12-21T13:53:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/361897\/"},"modified":"2025-12-21T13:53:12","modified_gmt":"2025-12-21T13:53:12","slug":"bowen-yang-joins-ariana-grande-snl-monologue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/361897\/","title":{"rendered":"Bowen Yang Joins Ariana Grande ‘SNL’ Monologue"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tBowen Yang<\/a> joined Ariana Grande<\/a> during her Saturday Night Live<\/a> monologue for the highly anticipated Christmas episode, just in time for his final episode as a cast member on the sketch comedy series.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Wicked: For Good star kicked off her hosting appearance by explaining that she\u2019d been asked if she was planning on reprising any of her past roles from her previous times on SNL<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe last time I hosted was a year ago, and so many people have been asking me if I\u2019ll revisit any of my sketches from last time, like, you know, Domingo<\/a>. But I told them, \u2018I don\u2019t think so.\u2019 When something is perfect, it doesn\u2019t need a sequel,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s why I just finished filming Meet the Parents 4<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tGrande then performed her own spoof of Mariah Carey\u2019s \u201cAll I Want for Christmas Is You,\u201d where she sang about not knowing what to get her cousin\u2019s boyfriend for the special holiday.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI love shopping for all of my loved ones, but I have to admit, I get a little stressed shopping for certain other people in my life, you know what I mean?\u201d she said before launching into song. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI don\u2019t know what to get for Christmas for my cousin\u2019s boyfriend Steve,\u201d Grande sang. \u201cI don\u2019t know a thing about him, only see him on Christmas Eve. \u2026 Is a gift card rude? What do I get for Christmas for this dude?\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cHaven\u2019t shopped a lot for Christmas, \u2018cause my schedule\u2019s never free. Had so much press for Wicked, Jon Chu will not let me pee,\u201d she continued to the classic tune. \u201cI\u2019m in a tough spot, what do I get for Christmas for Scott? Oh \u2014 Steve, Steve, I\u2019m sorry, Steve.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAll I want for Christmas is to know what to get for the people that I don\u2019t know that well. All suggestions are welcome,\u201d Grande spoke, as Yang entered the shot and was met with a massive wave of applause. \u201cI can help you, Ari,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n\tYang appeared to be choked up when he joined Grande on stage, marking his first onscreen moment after it was announced he was exiting<\/a> the series following Saturday\u2019s episode. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cCan I just say how much I loved your line in Wicked?\u201d Grande told Bowen. \u201cThank you,\u201d he replied, prompting the singer-actress to say, \u201cYou\u2019re welcome.\u201d He added, \u201cNo, no, that was my line in the movie: Thank you.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tYang offered a few suggestions for potential presents, including a back massage coupon (\u201cThat would probably freak him out,\u201d Grande joked), as more cast members joined him and Grande on stage to offer their own gift ideas. <\/p>\n

\n\tYang and Grande took part in another heartfelt skit<\/a>, the last of the night, where he played a Delta employee working their final shift on Christmas. The \u201ceternal sunshine\u201d singer told him seemingly over the phone, \u201cI wish you were home, but I\u2019m so proud of you. All the eggnog you\u2019ve made over the years. Some of it was great, some of it was rotten.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cA lot of it got cut,\u201d he responded, adding, \u201cYou know, I also think Eggnog\u2019s kind of like me. It\u2019s not for everyone, but the people who like it are my kind of people.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tYang teared up during the final moments of the sketch, where he shared his gratitude for his time working on the series: \u201cI just feel so lucky that I ever got to work here. And I just wanted to enjoy it for a little bit longer. Especially the people. I\u2019ve loved every single person who works here because they\u2019ve done so much for me.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tAt the top of the show, the cold open began with James Austin Johnson\u2019s Trump mostly addressing the Epstein files. He explained that the Kennedy Center\u2019s name<\/a> was changing was connected partly due to the release of the files.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI wanted to ramble to you tonight about the incredible things this administration is doing. We\u2019re doing wonderful stuff,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are renaming the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which will now be called the Trump Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. \u2026 You know, people are saying, \u2018Sir, why are you putting your name on so many buildings?\u2019 And I say, \u2018It\u2019s because we had to take it off of so many files.’\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tJohnson\u2019s Trump also poked fun at the recently announced Patriot Games, that will tap one high school male and female to compete in an athletic event.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI almost forgot I\u2019m inventing my own\u00a0Hunger Games. That\u2019s right, the White House will be hosting the Patriot Games for high school athletes to compete,\u201d he added. \u201cBecause I thought, What\u2019s the best way to distract from the Epstein files? I know, invite a bunch of teenagers to my house.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFormer SNL cast member Aidy Bryant made a surprise cameo alongside Yang during the Weekend Update segment, where the two portrayed trend forecasters. Also in the Update portion of the night, Michael Che and Colin Jost partook in a one-sided joke swap. After telling Jost they weren\u2019t doing the bit for this year\u2019s Christmas episode, Che offered up a series of jokes he wrote for his co-host, as Jost had literally no jokes prepared for Che. <\/p>\n

\n\tNotably, the Dec. 20 show served as Yang\u2019s final episode as a cast member. On Friday, it was revealed that the comedian was leaving<\/a> the sketch comedy series, which he confirmed<\/a> on Instagram Saturday. There, he reminisced on his years working at SNL and thanked Lorne Michaels for the opportunity.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI loved working at\u00a0SNL,\u00a0and most of all, I loved the people,\u201d he wrote. \u201cI was there at a time when many things in the world started to seem futile, but working at 30 Rock taught me the value in showing up anyway when people make it worthwhile.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tCoincidentally, Yang\u2019s swan song was hosted by none other than his Wicked co-star Grande. In his farewell post, he also thanked the \u201cInto You\u201d singer \u201cfor sending me off in the dreamiest way I could imagine.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tGrande served as the host of SNL\u2018s Christmas episode, where she was joined by musical guest Cher<\/a> \u2014 marking her first appearance on the show since 1987. The Oscar-nominated actress is no stranger to Studio 8H, with Saturday marking her second time solo hosting (her first was in Oct. 2024); she\u2019s previously served as a musical guest on two occasions (in Sept. 2014 and March 2024), and doubled as the host and musical guest once in 2016.<\/p>\n

\n\tBefore the episode ended, SNL shared a tribute<\/a> to the late Rob Reiner<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\n\tEight episodes of season 51 have already aired, as\u00a0Bad Bunny<\/a>,\u00a0Amy Poehler<\/a>,\u00a0Sabrina Carpenter<\/a>,\u00a0Miles Teller<\/a>,\u00a0Nikki Glaser<\/a>,\u00a0Glen Powell<\/a>,\u00a0Melissa McCarthy<\/a>\u00a0and Josh O\u2019Connor<\/a> all took turns in the leading role. <\/p>\n

\n\tSNL announced<\/a> Saturday that Finn Wolfhard and A$AP Rocky will be the first host and musical guest<\/a> of 2026 on Jan. 17.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bowen Yang joined Ariana Grande during her Saturday Night Live monologue for the highly anticipated Christmas episode, just…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":361898,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[12875,12395,53671,88,12015,12016],"class_list":["post-361897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-ariana-grande","tag-bowen-yang","tag-cher","tag-entertainment","tag-saturday-night-live","tag-snl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361897","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=361897"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361897\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/361898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=361897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=361897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=361897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}