Elon Musk made his highly-anticipated Saturday Night Live hosting debut over the weekend. While the Tesla CEO is often known for his controversial and sometimes, off color, comments, Musk’s performance was, for the part, considered tame and safe. But still, Musk managed to find ways to surprise viewers in a way that only the SpaceX founder can.
Musk shared he has Asperger’s syndrome, and attributed his offensive remarks to his condition.
During his opening monologue, Musk opened up about having Asperger’s syndrome, a neurological disorder that now falls under the general diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder. People with Asperger’s tend to struggle with social interactions, may have a narrow set of interests, and also have average, or above-average levels of intelligence.
The billionaire noted that his diagnosis shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who’s ever been hurt by his comments.
“To anyone I’ve offended,” Musk said, “I just want to say, I reinvented cars, I’m sending people to Mars in a rocket ship. Did you think I was also going to be a chill, normal dude?”
Musk acknowledged how unusual his baby’s name is.
No one likely expected Musk to give his son, who he shares with Grimes, a common name, such as Aidan or Noah. But when the couple welcomed their baby last May, and announced that they would call him, X Æ A-12, many weren’t sure how to even pronounce the moniker.
During his SNL appearance, Musk acknowledged how challenging it will be when his baby’s future teachers see X Æ A-12 on the class roster. “It’s pronounced ‘cat running across the keyboard,’” Musk said.
Musk confirmed that “dogecoin” is no joke and that he’s confident in its potential.
Back in 2013, dogecoin, now the fifth-largest cryptocurrency in the world, started out as a joke, an extension of the “doge” meme that was popular on the internet at the time, according to CNN.
But the founder of SpaceX has been a longtime staunch supporter of the cryptocurrency and reiterated his confidence in dogecoin during his appearance on SNL.
When Musk’s mom, Maye, joined her son on stage during his opening monologue, Musk told his mother that he bought her dogecoin for Mother’s Day.
While playing financial expert Lloyd Ostertag during the “Weekend Update,” Musk declared himself the “Dogefather” and concluded the segment by howling, “to the moon,” a popular phrase used by dogecoin enthusiasts in reference to how high they hope the crypto’s value will soar.
(However, the coin itself didn’t fare that well even with Musk’s overt plugs. It dropped as much as 29.5 percent during Musk’s SNL appearance, according to CNBC. But then climbed up a bit, later on in the show).
Musk’s most controversial joke was about a Prius.
When Musk acknowledged that he could seize the opportunity to say something “truly shocking” on live television, the audience grew expectedly quiet. But Musk played it safe and said: “I could say something truly shocking like I drive a Prius.”
Musk managed to drive up SNL’s ratings, even though he wasn’t a traditional host.
Musk was the first non-entertainer to host SNL since former Houston Texans lineman J.J. Watt took to the stage last February, according to the LA Times.
But the non-traditional host seemed to work in SNL’s favor. Ratings soared on Saturday night, and tied for the third-highest telecast of the season, behind iconic comedians and SNL hosts Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock.
