Dean Obeidallah writes that the most astounding moment during Elon Musk’s hosting of “Saturday Night Live” was his failure to apologize outright for his horribly irresponsible comments downplaying the risks of Covid-19 and his insensitive remarks about the transgender community.
For “SNL,” like all long-running TV shows, it’s all about ratings and relevancy. By Sunday afternoon, there were more than 3 million views of Musk’s monologue on YouTube and early ratings showed a big win on the audience front. For Musk, the apparent goal was to make himself likeable to those who know him only as the Tesla and SpaceX founder who has been criticized for his controversial remarks. And if you watched his monologue in a vacuum, Musk did come across likeable and funny. He also candidly acknowledged he had Asperger’s syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder that affects language and communication skills. (Although his claim that he was the first person with Asperger’s to host was incorrect. Dan Aykroyd, a former “SNL” cast member who hosted the show in 2003, also has the syndrome.) Musk even brought his mother on stage to joke about his childhood. It was a dream for any PR person working to improve Musk’s image. But nowhere did Musk offer any remorse for his particularly reviled statements over the last 13 months. The most astounding part is that during the show’s monologue, Musk actually had the perfect moment to show he had the strength required to apologize. Musk stated mid-speech “Look, I know I sometimes post or say strange things, but that’s just how my brain works.
