“Saturday Night Live” took on the Department of Defense group text scandal in its cold open with host Mikey Madison.
Madison, a recent Oscar winner for “Anora,” played a teenage girl gossiping with her friends (Ego Nwodim and Sarah Sherman) about high school and crushes in a group chat infiltrated by U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, played by Andrew Dismukes.
“FYI, green light on Yemen raid. Rockets went airborne 15 minutes ago,” he said. “Who’s ready to glass some Houthi rebels? Flag emoji, flag emoji, flag emoji, fire emoji, eggplant.”
The White House has been under fire this week after the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg, was accidentally added to a Signal group in which Hegseth, JD Vance and other high-ranking officials were discussing confidential plans to attack Houthi rebels in Yemen.
“Israel better bend over and spread it,” Dismukes continued. “Baller. Water squirt emoji. God bless the troops. Eggplant.”
The vice president, played by Bowen Yang, then entered the chat, as Hegseth asked about his trip to Greenland. “Nobody knows why I’m here. Especially me. But praise Trump, our work here is mysterious and important,” Yang said, in a cheeky nod to “Severance.”
A car horn interrupted the gab session, and Madison said, “Got to go, Matt’s here to pick me up. We’re going to a movie.”
“Who? Gaetz?” Dismukes asked, referencing the former Republican congressman who was investigated by the House ethics panel over allegations of sex trafficking involving a 17-year-old girl. (Gaetz has denied all wrongdoing.)
“Actually, yeah!” Madison said.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio (Marcello Hernandez) was then added to the chat, and upon learning there were three teen girls in it, he said, “We were totally pranking you guys, LOL. But would you mind emailing your names and home addresses to deportations@ice.gov?”
Madison makes her hosting debut on “Saturday Night Live” and was in the cold open — a rare feat for the host, who normally first appears during the monologue.
