Saturday Night Live Christmas cold open drags Kanye West and Elon Musk

Penultimate episode of latest series aired on Saturday 10 December

Saturday Night Live has skewered Elon Musk and Kanye West in its latest episode.

The penultimate instalment of the sketch show’s 48th season aired on Saturday (10 December).

Only Murders In the Building stars Steve Martin and Martin Short returned to host, with their co-star Selena Gomez making a surprise cameo to crash the pair’s monologue.

Prior to their appearance, however, the episode kicked off with a cold open.

The sketch was set in a Manhattan high-rise apartment and featured a group of festive revellers, played by Cecily Strong, Kenan Thompson, and Bowen Yang.

In it, the group discuss iscuss recent events, with Strong stating: “It’s hard not to feel helpless. I always think I should be doing more for myself, for friends, for society. But then I remember…”

She then bursts into song, singing:  “It’s Christmas, and all of my stress fades away. All the problems and issues and crying and tissues can wait until January!”

The song then details all of their personal problems, before they go on to say that they can ignore issues such as alcoholism and mental health until Christmas.

“My mental health… my mental health hasn’t been great. I wake up at noon and the sun’s somehow setting then I fall back asleep around eight. But I can live in a delusional state… for Christmas,” sings Yang.

Later in the musical moment, the group takes aim at Musk and West.

“Elon… why does he own all the stuff? Why does he have to run Tesla and Twitter, was outer space not enough?” sings Strong.

Yang adds: “And Hitler… since when did Hitler come back? Didn’t we basically all agree years ago that Hitler should never come back?”

Thompson chimes in: “And why are his new fans Black?!”

Earlier this month, the rapper admitted he “likes” Hitler during an interview with right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.

West, who has been dumped by the likes of Adidas, GAP and Balenciaga following a string of antisemitic comments, repeatedly praised the Nazi leader during his appearance on Jones’s show Infowars.

The shocking moment is the latest in a string of recent controversies for West.

The 48th season Saturday Night Live concludes on Saturday 17 December.