Chloe Fineman isn't satisfied with the manner in which Elon Musk purportedly treated her during her tenure on "Saturday Night Live" (SNL). In a TikTok video that has since been removed, the SNL star claimed that the Tesla CEO made her shed tears during his hosting stint on the show in 2021.
Addressing Musk directly, Fineman recounted, "You made me, Chloe Fineman, burst into tears because I stayed up all night crafting a sketch. I was thrilled, came in the next day, inquired if you had any questions, and you stared at me as though you were dismissing me from Tesla, saying, 'It's not funny.'"
"I anticipated you'd laugh it off with a 'Haha, just kidding.' But no. Instead, you began flipping through my script, page by page, stating, 'I didn't laugh even once. Not even once,'" she continued.
USA TODAY has reached out to both Fineman and Musk for their comments on the matter. Musk responded via X, defending his reaction to Fineman's sketch but neither confirming nor denying that he made her cry, nor offering an apology.
"Frankly, it was only on the Thursday before the Saturday broadcast that ANY of the sketches elicited laughter," wrote the SpaceX founder. "I was worried." He added that he was concerned his appearance might turn out "unfunny" but "it ended up working out in the end." Musk also shared a link to a September appearance on the "All-in Podcast," where he similarly expressed that "nothing was funny" during the initial stages of working on his SNL episode.
According to Fineman, the sketch she penned ultimately made its way onto the show, and she found Musk's portrayal in it to be "really funny." However, she did add, "But please have a bit of manners here," addressing Musk.
Fineman's SNL castmate, Bowen Yang, previously revealed on "Watch What Happens Live" that an unnamed host had made "multiple" cast members cry "before the table read because he hated the ideas." Fineman hinted in her TikTok that Musk was the host Yang was referring to, stating, "He's the host that made someone cry. Maybe there are others."
Fineman revealed that her TikTok was inspired by Musk's Sunday slam against SNL for spoofing him in this weekend's episode. In the show's latest cold open, Dana Carvey portrayed the billionaire, who jumped around the stage celebrating President-elect Donald Trump's election victory. In a series of X posts, Musk lambasted SNL, claiming it has "been dying slowly for years," that Carvey's impression "just sounds like Dana Carvey," and that "they are so mad" that Trump won the election.
Fineman commented on Musk's complaints, saying, "But I'm thinking, you're clearly watching the show. What are you talking about?" She also shared that when she came across articles about an SNL host making people cry, she decided to keep quiet about who it was. However, Musk's "rudeness" on social media prompted her to speak out.
Musk hosted SNL in May 2021. In one sketch, he portrayed the video game character Wario, trying to combat his tarnished reputation in court. Since then, the X CEO has frequently criticized SNL on social media, stating that the show has become "so woke."
