Saturday Night Live (SNL) ended its Season 51 with a segment featuring Will Ferrell as the late convicted sex offender. The six-time Emmy Award winner returned for his sixth stint as host, appearing as Jeffrey Epstein in a sketch that had a message for Donald Trump.
Will Ferrell plays ghost of Jeffrey Epstein on SNL Cold Open
The SNL sketch opened with James Austin Johnson reprising his impression of President Donald Trump. He was joined by Jeremy Culhane as Vice President J.D. Vance, with the president explaining Vance was excluded from a recent trip to China simply because “I didn’t want to.” After dismissing his vice-president, Trump settles down for a nap, resting his head on a gold bar gifted by Sweden.
What followed was not a haunting in the traditional sense but a blunt warning about legacy. Will Ferrell’s Jeffrey Epstein, matter-of-fact and strangely cheerful, told the president he had come with a message. “In case you’re curious, like all ghosts, I have the power to show you visions of the future,” Ferrell said. Johnson’s Trump shoots back, “Wow, I’m surprised there is one.”
The visions that follow are grim for Donald Trump’s inner circle. Ashley Padilla played Kristi Noem, reduced to selling vacuum cleaners on late-night television, her pitch littered with grim jokes about cleaning up after dogs and popped balloons. Colin Jost and Aziz Ansari played Pete Hegseth and Kash Patel, respectively, hosting a drunken podcast after losing a war with Iran.
But the core message is personal. Will Ferrell’s Jeffrey Epstein tells Donald Trump that no matter what else happens, history will link the two men together permanently. The two even launch into a rendition of “Just the Two of Us,” nearly kissing before the moment breaks.
Ferrell, who performed on SNL from 1995 to 2002, returned to host the show for the sixth time. McCartney capped off the night with an encore performance of “Coming Up,” bringing a legendary close to a season that consistently mined political madness for comedy gold.
Originally reported by Devanshi Basu for Mandatory.
