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Months after \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d celebrated its 50th anniversary<\/a>, things got back to normal at Studio 8H. Fresh off the news that he\u2019s headlining the 2026 Super Bowl, Bad Bunny<\/a> hosted the 51st season premiere, only months after closing out season 50 as its musical guest in May.<\/p>\n While facing conservative backlash<\/a> for his criticism of President Donald Trump, Bad Bunny offered words of appreciation for the Latino community during his opening monologue, saying in Spanish that \u201cno one can remove or erase\u201d their contributions to the United States. The Latin rap superstar didn\u2019t serve as the musical guest this time, with pop star Doja Cat performing two singles off of her recent album \u201cVie<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n But even if things above the surface were familiar, change is afoot at SNL. Longtime cast members like Ego Nwodim and Heidi Gardner<\/a> have left the show, making space for five new faces. Here\u2019s everything you need to know about the kickoff of this SNL season.<\/p>\n \u201cWeekend Update\u201d co-host Colin Jost unleashed a new impression to kick off this season of SNL: Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. Jost lampooned Hegseth\u2019s speech<\/a> to top military personnel earlier this week. He proclaimed the meeting had been called to deal with the weight problems of the armed forces and the fact that the \u201cmilitary is gay as hell.\u201d<\/p>\n Just as quickly as \u201cHegseth\u201d arrived, he was interrupted by \u201cPresident Donald Trump\u201d (played by James Austin Johnson), who was stopping in at the show to make \u201csure they don\u2019t do anything too mean about me,\u201d a nod to the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel <\/a>amid threats from the administration<\/a>. \u201cTrump\u201d mostly took cracks at SNL, mocking Jost (\u201cthey were never going to let him do the cold open by himself\u201d) while offering meta commentary deriding SNL for growing stale: \u201cSo sad to see something get old and confused and still demand your attention.\u201d<\/p>\n Jeremy Culhane, a new cast member, opened the sketch in a surprising nod to the abundance of fresh faces this season, but he quickly relinquished the reins to Jost.<\/p>\n In his second time hosting, Bad Bunny confidently marshaled the show through familiar sketch setups. His monologue surveyed the world according to the superstar rapper-producer: he didn\u2019t pull double duty on SNL as its musical guest because he was feeling exhausted after just finishing a 31-concert residency.<\/p>\n He also touched upon the recent announcement that he\u2019s headlining the Super Bowl in February. \u201cI think everyone is happy about it, even Fox News,\u201d he said, before playing an edit of various Fox hosts suggesting that they love Bad Bunny and think he should be president. After sharing some thoughts in Spanish, he clarified for viewers who don\u2019t speak it that \u201cif you didn\u2019t understand what I just said, you have four months to learn.\u201d<\/p>\n Elsewhere, he cycled through roles as a contestant on \u201cJeopardy!\u201d who didn\u2019t understand how the game show worked, a restaurant patron happy to be a sperm donor for a lesbian couple, the father of a schoolchild who threatened his principal and an AI bot on \u201cChatGPTio\u201d \u2014 an ad for the \u201cthe first AI that feels like talking to a Latino uncle.\u201d<\/p>\n Whispers of a Taylor Swift appearance didn\u2019t pan out. But the singers behind another megahit this year made a surprise cameo. In one sketch, Bad Bunny played a character obsessed with \u201cKPop Demon Hunters<\/a>,\u201d before Bowen Yang appears playing the demon Jinu. To wrap things up, vocalists EJAE, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami, who voice the movie\u2019s fictional band Huntr\/x, appeared and sang a snippet of the No. 1 hit \u201cGolden.\u201d<\/p>\n The surprise guests didn\u2019t stop there. Jon Hamm, who went viral<\/a> for his nonchalant appearance at Bad Bunny\u2019s residency last month, was sitting up front in the audience during the monologue. Hamm even appeared briefly in the final sketch, kissing Bad Bunny on the cheek during a parody of a children\u2019s show. And \u201cOne Battle After Another<\/a>\u201d standout Benicio Del Toro stole the show in another skit set centuries ago when the grammatical rules of the Spanish language were being decided. Del Toro\u2019s contribution? \u201cI think we should take a nap in the middle of the day,\u201d he said. And voil\u00e0, siestas!<\/p>\n Following her VMAs performance<\/a> of \u201cJealous Type,\u201d Doja Cat brought tunes from her new album, \u201cVie,\u201d to the highly orchestrated SNL stage. Opening with the dizzying \u201cAAAHH MEN!,\u201d Doja rocked a bright yellow wig and gallivanted across a checkerboard floor. In the \u201980s-flavored song, she laments the pains of dating with the line, \u201cIf I had more common sense, then I would grab my ride and dip.\u201d<\/p>\n The theatrics remained for her rendition of the shuffling, bass-groove-oriented \u201cGorgeous,\u201d where Doja sat perched on top of a giant red rose. Both songs showed off the \u201cSay So\u201d singer\u2019s rapping skills, where her conversational, cheeky flow carried her through. But by the end of \u201cGorgeous,\u201d flower petals rained down from the ceiling, a grace note for two frank songs about romance.<\/p>\n The formula of one of SNL\u2019s longest running features didn\u2019t change much: Co-hosts Michael Che and Jost got chuckles and groans as they touched on news like the government shutdown<\/a> or the Israel-Gaza war, dropping jokes about the Cracker Barrel logo<\/a> and clips of Trump as the punch line.<\/p>\n But this weekend, they broke from the norm occasionally. A bit where Jennifer Coolidge voice-acts as Trump could find mileage throughout the season. Yang joined the segment as Dobby from \u201cHarry Potter\u201d before his cape fell, prompting him to note that \u201cDobby has come undone.\u201d<\/p>\n