SNL Season Finale Features Will Ferrell and Paul McCartney Performances

Saturday Night Live wrapped its 51st season on May 16, with Will Ferrell returning as host and Paul McCartney appearing as the musical guest at Studio 8H. The finale balanced star power and long-running comedic beats with sketches built around a stream of pop culture references and broad political parody, capped by McCartney performances that closed the night on a high note.

Ferrell, making his sixth appearance as host, opened with a cold open in which he played the ghost of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, confronting James Austin Johnson’s President Donald Trump in the Oval Office. In the skit, Trump is woken from a nap and given “visions of the future” of the administration, including comedic depictions of senior officials and their imagined next moves. The scene ended with Ferrell’s Epstein joining Trump for a duet to Just the Two of Us, with Epstein urging that their association would endure.

The episode then shifted to the show’s familiar backstage chaos when Chad Smith, the Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer, interrupted Ferrell’s opening monologue, leaning into his well-known physical resemblance to the host. Smith appeared to present himself as the evening’s host before...