Overview
- John Mulaney and Pete Davidson said on Davidson’s Netflix podcast that they routinely tell celebrity hosts they “crushed it” even when the opening monologue failed to land.
- They described common, tongue-in-cheek excuses given to hosts, including blaming poor acoustics, saying the audience are tourists who do not speak English, or advising the host to “play for the camera.”
- Mulaney noted the SNL studio is actually a top-tier sound room and framed the excuses as comic damage control rather than factual explanations.
- The comments were placed in context by both men’s SNL histories, with Mulaney a writer from 2008–2013 and Davidson a cast member from 2014–2022, and come across as personal anecdotes rather than investigative claims.
- The exchange offers a rare public glimpse into SNL’s backstage culture of emotional management during live shows and serves as light, anecdotal entertainment rather than a report of broader changes at the show.