{"id":2261498,"date":"2026-02-01T20:17:30","date_gmt":"2026-02-01T20:17:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2261498"},"modified":"2026-02-01T20:17:30","modified_gmt":"2026-02-01T20:17:30","slug":"snl-cold-open-tackles-minneapolis-and-ice-as-pete-davidson-returns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/snl-cold-open-tackles-minneapolis-and-ice-as-pete-davidson-returns\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;SNL&#8217; cold open tackles Minneapolis and ICE as Pete Davidson returns"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<div id=\"videoWrap\" class=\"spacer-large videoWrap\" style=\"position:relative\"><media-video video-id=\"88243732007\" title=\"'SNL' cold open mocks Trump on Minneapolis, Venezuela\" poster=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/authoring\/authoring-images\/2026\/01\/18\/USAT\/88243742007-cabinet-meeting-cold-open-snl-saturday-night-live-1080-p-h-264-mp-400-00-33-09-still-001.jpg?crop=1919,1079,x0,y0\" util-module-path=\"elements\/media\" placement=\"snow-video-story-priority\"><\/p>\n<div id=\"uwVideoPlaceholder\" slot=\"placeholder\" style=\"z-index:19;width:100%;padding-bottom:56.25%;position:relative\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"vidplaybtn\" style=\"display:-moz-box;display:-ms-flexbox;display:-webkit-flex;display:flex;background-color:rgba(0,0,0,.4);border:2px solid #fff;border-radius:80px;cursor:pointer;height:80px;width:80px;position:absolute;top:50%;left:50%;transform:translate(-50%,-50%);z-index:10\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"vidplayicon\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/appservices\/universal-web\/universal\/icons\/icon-play-alt-white.svg\" alt=\"play\" style=\"height:40px;margin:auto 18px auto 27px;width:40px\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div slot=\"videoDetails\" id=\"videoDetails\" class=\"videoDetails\" style=\"padding-top:8px;padding-bottom:8px\">\n<div id=\"videoDetailsContainer\" class=\"videoDetailsContainer\" hidden=\"\">\n<p>&#8216;SNL&#8217; cold open mocks Trump on Minneapolis, Venezuela<\/p>\n<p>In the first &#8220;Saturday Night Live&#8221; episode of the year, cast members mocked Trump over his handling of Venezuela and the ICE shootings in Minneapolis.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/media-video><\/div>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/entertainment\/celebrities\/2025\/08\/14\/pete-davidson-past-girlfriends-public-sexualization\/85656187007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Pete Davidson<\/a> returned to &#8220;<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/entertainment\/tv\/2026\/01\/25\/snl-cold-open-this-week-trump-ice-mike-myers\/88297970007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Saturday Night Live<\/a>&#8221; and addressed the ongoing political turmoil surrounding immigration in the show&#8217;s cold open.<\/p>\n<partner-banner util-module-path=\"elements\/partner\" class=\"spacer-large\" min-height=\"600\" fluid=\"\" outstream=\"\" momentum=\"\"\/>\n<p>The former cast member returned to play White House border czar <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/news\/politics\/tom-homan\/\" data-autotag=\"b207fc61-1fd8-4bb0-a75e-a70861f8cb46\">Tom Homan<\/a> in a sketch tackling the political unrest happening in Minneapolis. President <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/news\/politics\/donald-trump\/\" data-autotag=\"26f031d1-9924-4f10-b4e6-019d076113d5\">Donald Trump<\/a> recently <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/politics\/2026\/01\/26\/trump-tom-homan-minnesota-alex-pretti\/88359452007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">sent Homan there<\/a> to lead immigration enforcement operations.<\/p>\n<p>In the sketch, Davidson&#8217;s Homan spoke to a room full of confused U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and grew frustrated while trying to explain why they should not use force against protesters or destroy evidence.<\/p>\n<p>After Davidson&#8217;s Homan said that ICE&#8217;s mission in Minneapolis is to &#8220;detain and deport illegal immigrants who have committed crimes,&#8221; one of the agents said this is &#8220;literally the first I&#8217;m hearing of that.&#8221;<\/p>\n<partner-banner util-module-path=\"elements\/partner\" fluid=\"\" bottom=\"\" lazy=\"\" class=\"spacer-large\" min-height=\"390\" outstream=\"\"\/><media-image image-set=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/authoring\/authoring-images\/2026\/02\/01\/USAT\/88463041007-nup-209828-00024.JPG bestCrop, https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/authoring\/authoring-images\/2026\/02\/01\/USAT\/88463041007-nup-209828-00024.JPG?crop=889,666,x100,y0 4:3, https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/authoring\/authoring-images\/2026\/02\/01\/USAT\/88463041007-nup-209828-00024.JPG?crop=500,666,x300,y0 3:4, https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/authoring\/authoring-images\/2026\/02\/01\/USAT\/88463041007-nup-209828-00024.JPG?crop=999,562,x0,y0 16:9\" image-alt=\"\" credit=\"Will Heath, NBC\" caption=\"Pete Davidson as Tom Homan on &quot;Saturday Night Live&quot; on Jan. 31, 2026.\" orientation=\"horizontal\" class=\"spacer-large\" util-module-path=\"elements\/media\"\/><\/p>\n<p>When he asked the agents what they&#8217;re looking for in Minneapolis, an ICE agent responded, &#8220;Epstein files?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;No, we actually just released those to distract from this,&#8221; Davidson as Homan said. &#8220;Which is ironic, because we did this to distract from those.&#8221; The Justice Department on Jan. 30 released\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/politics\/2025\/12\/24\/epstein-files-readers-guide-documents\/87907169007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">another 3 million pages<\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/politics\/2026\/01\/27\/epstein-files-release-deadline-trump\/88383381007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Jeffrey Epstein files<\/a>, including 2,000 videos and 180,000 images.<\/p>\n<partner-inline util-module-path=\"elements\/partner\" class=\"spacer-large\" placement=\"native-article_link\" sizes=\"[[300, 250], [3, 3]]\" min-height=\"250\" fluid=\"\" outstream=\"\"\/><cta-atoms-container-inline util-module-path=\"elements\/cta\" class=\"spacer-large\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"related-link\"><span class=\"exclude-from-newsgate\"><strong style=\"margin-right:3px\">More: <\/strong><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/politics\/2026\/01\/30\/jeffrey-epstein-files-release-redactions-review\/88431957007\/\" rel=\"noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">3 million more Epstein pages with 2,000 images publish, ending review<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"presto-h2 wp-block-heading\">&#8216;SNL&#8217; cold open with Pete Davidson tackles ongoing ICE raids, Don Lemon&#8217;s arrest<\/h2>\n<p>Homan then stressed that ICE agents should not use force, asking, &#8220;The job, ultimately, is about keeping America safe from what?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This could be wrong, but Don Lemon?&#8221; an ICE agent responded, referring to the arrest of the <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/nation\/2026\/01\/30\/don-lemon-arrested-minnesota-protest\/88429266007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">former celebrity.land anchor.<\/a><\/p>\n<partner-banner util-module-path=\"elements\/partner\" fluid=\"\" bottom=\"\" lazy=\"\" class=\"spacer-large\" min-height=\"600\" outstream=\"\" momentum=\"\"\/>\n<p>Lemon, who now works as an independent journalist, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/nation\/2026\/01\/30\/don-lemon-arrested-minnesota-protest\/88429266007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">was arrested<\/a> on Jan. 29 over his coverage of immigration enforcement operations in Minnesota. Another journalist, Georgia Fort, and political activists Trahern Jeen Crews and Jamael Lydell Lundy were also arrested.<\/p>\n<partner-inline util-module-path=\"elements\/partner\" placement=\"native-article_link\" sizes=\"[[300, 250], [3, 3]]\" min-height=\"250\" fluid=\"\" outstream=\"\"\/>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/entertainment\/celebrities\/2026\/01\/20\/don-lemon-nicki-minaj-anti-ice-church-protest-minnesota\/88262077007\/\">Lemon<\/a>\u00a0was one of several journalists in attendance at the Jan. 18 protest of Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota. In a nearly\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=v4ctuhv-cck&amp;t=3196s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">seven-hour livestream<\/a>\u00a0on his YouTube channel at the time, he spoke with congregation members, protestors and one of the church&#8217;s pastors.<\/p>\n<p>In light of his arrest, Lemon said his &#8220;constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done.&#8221; He was released later on Friday.<\/p>\n<p><media-gallery-promo asset-id=\"88429272007\" class=\"column ten-column no-gutter spacer-large\"\/><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"presto-h2 wp-block-heading\">&#8216;SNL&#8217; cold open comes as more Americans protest against ICE<\/h2>\n<p>Davidson&#8217;s Homan also addressed agents who say that protesters shouldn&#8217;t be able to have guns, asking, &#8220;How many of you went to a &#8216;stop the steal&#8217; protest with a loaded automatic weapon?&#8221;<\/p>\n<partner-banner util-module-path=\"elements\/partner\" fluid=\"\" bottom=\"\" lazy=\"\" class=\"spacer-large\" min-height=\"390\" outstream=\"\"\/>\n<p>James Austin Johnson&#8217;s ICE agent character eventually concluded, &#8220;You hired a bunch of angry, aggressive guys, gave us guns and didn&#8217;t train us, so this is maybe what you wanted to happen?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><media-image image-set=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/authoring\/authoring-images\/2026\/02\/01\/USAT\/88463050007-nup-209828-00007.JPG bestCrop, https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/authoring\/authoring-images\/2026\/02\/01\/USAT\/88463050007-nup-209828-00007.JPG?crop=889,666,x0,y0 4:3, https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/authoring\/authoring-images\/2026\/02\/01\/USAT\/88463050007-nup-209828-00007.JPG?crop=500,666,x150,y0 3:4, https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/authoring\/authoring-images\/2026\/02\/01\/USAT\/88463050007-nup-209828-00007.JPG?crop=999,562,x0,y0 16:9\" image-alt=\"\" credit=\"Will Heath, NBC\" caption=\"Ben Marshall, James Austin Johnson, Kenan Thompson, Mikey Day and Andrew Dismukes on &quot;Saturday Night Live&quot; on Jan. 31, 2026.\" orientation=\"horizontal\" class=\"spacer-large\" util-module-path=\"elements\/media\"\/><\/p>\n<p>The sketch ended with Davidson giving an inspirational speech to the agents, asking if they can do their jobs &#8220;without violating anyone&#8217;s rights as Americans,&#8221; to which an agent played by Kenan Thompson simply replied, &#8220;No.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Well, I had to ask,&#8221; Davidson&#8217;s Homan said. &#8220;Maybe just try not to get filmed?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Tonight&#8217;s &#8220;SNL&#8221; cold open comes amid continued anti-ICE demonstrations in the U.S. after federal agents fatally shot Alex Pretti and Renee Good.<\/p>\n<partner-banner util-module-path=\"elements\/partner\" fluid=\"\" bottom=\"\" lazy=\"\" class=\"spacer-large\" min-height=\"390\" outstream=\"\"\/><media-gallery-promo asset-id=\"88348786007\" class=\"column ten-column no-gutter spacer-large\"\/><\/p>\n<p>The <span style=\"margin:0;padding:0\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/entertainment\/tv\/2026\/01\/25\/snl-cold-open-this-week-trump-ice-mike-myers\/88297970007\/\" target=\"_blank\">previous episode<\/a>\u00a0of &#8220;SNL&#8221; on Jan. 24 opened with a sketch in which<\/span> Johnson&#8217;s President Donald Trump hosted an awards show reminiscent of the Oscars. The episode received backlash from some fans over the way it largely sidestepped the killing of Pretti, who was fatally shot by Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis earlier that same day.<\/p>\n<partner-inline util-module-path=\"elements\/partner\" class=\"spacer-large\" placement=\"native-article_link\" sizes=\"[[300, 250], [3, 3]]\" min-height=\"250\" fluid=\"\" outstream=\"\"\/>\n<p>The Jan. 24 opening sketch only alluded to the events in Minneapolis when Johnson, as Trump, said he was trying to distract from &#8220;what all my little freaks and psychos in ICE have been doing.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Later in the Jan. 24 show, Minneapolis was briefly referenced on &#8220;Weekend Update&#8221; and in a sketch depicting a PBS news program. &#8220;To have basically no mention of the absolute horror of today and the past month is a slap in the face,&#8221; <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/LiveFromNewYork\/comments\/1qmajj5\/does_anyone_else_feel_like_tonights_episode_was\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">one fan wrote on the &#8220;SNL&#8221; subreddit<\/a> after the episode aired, drawing thousands of upvotes.<\/p>\n<p><media-gallery-promo asset-id=\"85960695007\" class=\"column ten-column no-gutter spacer-large\"\/><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;SNL&#8221; further discussed Minneapolis during tonight&#8217;s &#8220;Weekend Update,&#8221; with anchor Colin Jost saying he doesn&#8217;t see Homan &#8220;calming things down.&#8221;<\/p>\n<partner-banner util-module-path=\"elements\/partner\" fluid=\"\" bottom=\"\" lazy=\"\" class=\"spacer-large\" min-height=\"390\" outstream=\"\"\/>\n<p>&#8220;This feels like trying to quit cocaine by taking up crack,&#8221; Jost quipped.<\/p>\n<p class=\"related-link\"><span class=\"exclude-from-newsgate\"><strong style=\"margin-right:3px\">In &#8216;SNL&#8217; cold open <\/strong><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/entertainment\/tv\/2026\/01\/25\/snl-cold-open-this-week-trump-ice-mike-myers\/88297970007\/\" rel=\"noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Trump distracts from &#8216;freaks and psychos&#8217; in ICE<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"presto-h2 wp-block-heading\">Who else was on &#8216;SNL&#8217;?<\/h2>\n<p>Alexander Skarsg\u00e5rd made his &#8220;SNL&#8221; hosting debut on the Jan. 31 episode, joined by Cardi B as the musical guest.<\/p>\n<p>Skarsg\u00e5rd is starring in the new Charli XCX mockumentary &#8220;The Moment&#8221; and the dark comedy &#8220;Pillion,&#8221; while Cardi B is coming off the release of her album &#8220;Am I the Drama?&#8221; in September.<\/p>\n<p>Skarsg\u00e5rd&#8217;s father, Stellan Skarsg\u00e5rd, joined him during the episode, and &#8220;30 Rock&#8221; star Jack McBrayer also joined him for a cameo.<\/p>\n<p><media-gallery-promo asset-id=\"88019572007\" class=\"column ten-column no-gutter spacer-large\"\/><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"presto-h2 wp-block-heading\">Who&#8217;s hosting &#8216;SNL&#8217; next?<\/h2>\n<p>&#8220;SNL&#8221; will return on Feb. 28 with host Connor Storrie and musical guest Mumford &amp; Sons.<\/p>\n<p><em>Contributing: Melina Khan and Joey Garrison, USA TODAY<\/em><\/p>\n<lit-timestamp class=\"column ten-column no-gutter spacer-small\" slot=\"timestamp\" publishdate=\"2026-02-01 05:20:07.054850434 +0000 UTC\" updatedate=\"2026-02-01 17:15:38.717053278 +0000 UTC\"\/><\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.usatoday.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8216;SNL&#8217; cold open mocks Trump on Minneapolis, Venezuela In the first &#8220;Saturday Night Live&#8221; episode of the year, cast members mocked Trump over his handling of Venezuela and the ICE shootings in Minneapolis. Pete Davidson returned to &#8220;Saturday Night Live&#8221; and addressed the ongoing political turmoil surrounding immigration in the show&#8217;s cold open. The former [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2260555,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[39915,28769,22220,21751,239390,377864,22339,339626,361828,305457,22389,6297,322004,21741,381242,438030,424203,304711,398886,22942,305247,22240,239389,21992,355579,21739,298114,315602,423553,239456,239462,74947,21738,366314,30600,28774,239343,239420,367112,345559,341496,22048,29945,358090,21890,24431,23152,312902,436781,24638,21913,239471,26976,361829,317186,239344],"class_list":["post-2261498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-affiliate","tag-and","tag-arts","tag-celebrities","tag-celebrities-u0026-entertainment-news","tag-cnn","tag-comedy","tag-customs","tag-department","tag-donald","tag-donald-trump","tag-eamotion","tag-enforcement","tag-entertainment","tag-epstein","tag-homan","tag-humor","tag-immigration","tag-jeffrey","tag-jeffrey-epstein","tag-justice","tag-life","tag-life-now","tag-live","tag-live-comedy","tag-local","tag-local-affiliate-arts-u0026-entertainment","tag-minneapolis","tag-mn","tag-modular","tag-modular-story","tag-negative","tag-news","tag-night","tag-now","tag-of","tag-overall","tag-overall-negative","tag-pbs","tag-political","tag-political-humor","tag-politics","tag-programs","tag-saturday","tag-saturday-night-live","tag-shows","tag-story","tag-tom","tag-tom-homan","tag-trump","tag-tv","tag-tv-shows-u0026-programs","tag-u-s","tag-u-s-department-of-justice","tag-u-s-immigration-and-customs-enforcement","tag-u0026"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/How-to-watch-SNL-tonight-See-host-musical-guest-for.webp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2261498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2261498"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2261498\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2261499,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2261498\/revisions\/2261499"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2260555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2261498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2261498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2261498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}