‘SNL’ star says Elon Musk made her cry, Tesla boss responds

Chloe Fineman isn’t fine with the way Elon Musk allegedly treated her on “SNL.”
In a since-deleted TikTok, the “Saturday Night Live” star alleged the Tesla CEO made her cry when he hosted the show in 2021.
Addressing Musk, she said, “You made I, Chloe Fineman, burst into tears because I stayed up all night writing a sketch, I was so excited, I came in, I asked if you had any questions, and you stared at me like you were firing me from Tesla and were like, ‘It’s not funny.'”
“I waited for you to be like, ‘Haha, JK.’ No. Then you started pawing through my script, flipping each page, being like, ‘I didn’t laugh once. Not one time.'”
USA TODAY has reached out to Fineman and Musk for comment.
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Musk responded on X by defending his reaction to Fineman’s sketch, but he did not confirm or deny that he made her cry, nor did he apologize.
“Frankly, it was only on the Thursday before the Saturday that ANY of the sketches generated laughs,” the SpaceX founder wrote. “I was worried.”
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He added that he was concerned his appearance was going to be “unfunny,” but “then it worked out in the end.” Musk also linked to a September appearance on the “All-in Podcast” where he similarly said that “nothing was funny” in the beginning of his time working on his “SNL” episode.
According to Fineman, the sketch she wrote ended up making it onto the show, and she thought Musk was “really funny” in it. “But have a little manners here,” she told him.
The “Megalopolis” actress’ fellow “SNL” cast member Bowen Yang previously revealed on “Watch What Happens Live” that an unnamed host made “multiple” people on the show cry “before the table read because he hated the ideas.”
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Fineman suggested in her TikTok that Musk is the person Yang was talking about. “He’s the host that made someone cry,” she said of Musk. “Maybe there’s others.”
Fineman said her TikTok was inspired by Musk on Sunday slamming “SNL” for its spoof of him in this weekend’s episode.
In the show’s latest cold open, Dana Carvey played the billionaire, who jumped around on stage to celebrate President-elect Donald Trump’s election win. In a series of X posts, Musk said “SNL” has “been dying slowly for years,” that Carvey’s impression “just sounds like Dana Carvey” and that “they are so mad that” Trump won the election.
Fineman said she saw coverage of Musk’s complaints, “but I’m like, you’re clearly watching the show. What are you talking about?”
She also said that when she saw articles about there being an “SNL” host that made people cry, she decided she wouldn’t say anything about who it was. But Musk being “rude” on social media made her decide to come forward.
Musk hosted “SNL” in May 2021. In one sketch, he played the video game character Wario trying to combat his poor reputation court.
Since then, the X CEO has frequently criticized “SNL” on social media, saying the show “has become so woke.”