'SNL' cold open skewers 'incompetent' Kash Patel, Aziz Ansari stars

Brendan Morrow, USA TODAYSun, May 3, 2026 at 4:31 AM UTC

0

Surprise! Aziz Ansari is live from New York as FBI Director Kash Patel.

"Saturday Night Live" returned after a brief hiatus on May 2 and, in its cold open, featured the "Parks and Recreation" alum debuting an impression of Patel. The sketch took place at a press conference, where Colin Jost's Pete Hegseth introduced Patel as someone who wanted to "say hello before he's almost certainly fired."

After taking the podium, Ansari's Patel addressed the security incident at last week's White House Correspondents' Association dinner, where a suspect, Cole Tomas Allen, attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump. Prosecutors say that Allen tried to storm the dinner − where Vice President JD Vance and others from the administration were also in attendance − with multiple guns and knives, intending to kill high-ranking officials.

Aziz Ansari made a surprise appearance on "Saturday Night Live" as FBI Director Kash Patel.

"Now, after the attempted assassination of President Trump − another one! − we conducted an investigation that could not have been more thorough," Ansari as Patel said. "We dotted every 'T' and bulged every eye. And for those of you saying I'm doing a bad job running the FBI, well, what if I told you this agency is only six weeks away from pinpointing the exact location of Osama Bin Laden?"

Ansari's Patel went on to declare he is a "trailblazer" as the "first Indian person to suck at their job," proving that "we can be just as incapable and incompetent as the whites." As he took questions, he insisted he is not worried about being fired. "Even the Correspondents' dinner shooter said kill everyone but Mr. Patel. You get a shoutout like that in a psycho's manifesto, you must be doing something right."

The rest of the cold open centered on Jost as Hegseth giving an update on the war with Iran. After entering with a comically large drink, he told reporters, "This war has been a movie − specifically, 'The NeverEnding Story.'" The sketch briefly acknowledged the recent drama surrounding Jimmy Kimmel, who Trump has demanded be fired from his late-night ABC show for jokingly calling first lady Melania Trump an "expectant widow."

"I wear my religion on my sleeve − literally, I have a tattoo on my forearm of Jesus choking out Jimmy Kimmel," Jost as Hegseth said.

Advertisement

'SNL' cold open: Melania Trump's 'big, random' Epstein speech spoofed

Ashley Padilla also made a brief appearance as White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. "I'm about to go on maternity leave," she noted. "That's when you tell President Trump about your maternity, and he says, 'Leave.' "

Olivia Rodrigo hosted the May 2 episode of "SNL," on which she also served as the musical guest. This was Rodrigo's "SNL" hosting debut, though she has performed as musical guest twice before.

1 / 0Olivia Rodrigo's new era begins! See her career, from breakout artist to Grammy winner

Olivia Rodrigo has officially kickstarted her newest era. The "Good 4 U" singer, who is no stranger to turning a red carpet into her own runway, recently unveiled her highly anticipated third album. Titled "You Seem Pretty Sad For a Girl So in Love," the album will officially be releasing on June 12, 2026, and marks a new (pinker!) chapter for Rodrigo following the success of her first two albums "Sour" and "Guts."From her iconic performances to her standout red carpet looks, here's a look at Olivia Rodrigo's career through the years starting with her recent appearance at the Chloe fall/winter 2026-2027 show in Paris.

Who's hosting 'SNL' next?

"SNL" is in the home stretch of its 51st season, with only two episodes left before the summer hiatus.

'SNL' reveals schedule: Who's hosting, performing for rest of the season?

Matt Damon will next take the stage on May 9, joined by musical guest Noah Kahan. May 16 will be the show's season finale, and Will Ferrell is set to host with musical guest Paul McCartney.

"SNL" will then be off for the summer; the new season typically returns in late September or early October. The show also usually undergoes some changes to its cast between seasons, but so far, no departures have been announced.

Contributing: Aysha Bagchi

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'SNL' cold open features Aziz Ansari spoofing FBI's Kash Patel

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”