The Bear Star Ayo Edebiri Gets Choked Up During 1st SNL Hosting Gig, Questions Nikki Haley in Surprise Cameo

Ayo Edebiri made it Saturday night live debut this weekend.

Bear On Saturday, the 28-year-old actress hosted a late-night comedy sketch for the first time with musical guest Jennifer Lopez, and during her monologue, the actress became visibly emotional as she explained how meaningful that moment was to her.

“I’m so excited to be here. SNL it means so much to me. This is really a dream come true,” Edebiri said, her voice breaking as she choked up and became visibly emotional.

“I was born and raised in Boston, which makes me the first black woman to ever admit it. Three days into February and I’m already making black history,” she joked.

Elsewhere in her monologue, she explained the preparation that went into her role Bear.

“We all had to work in a real restaurant so we could really capture that kitchen energy,” she began. “When people saw my co-star Jeremy Allen White working in a restaurant, they’d say, ‘Wow, that’s Jeremy Allen White, he must be preparing for a role, so the method, and when they saw me, they’d just say,’ How much more for my tilapia?’ ”

Edebiri had another emotional moment at the end of her monologue, getting choked up once again as she described her performance as host as a “homecoming”.

“Honestly, I’m so excited for tonight. I’ve come to the comedy scene in New York with some of my best friends who I’m so blessed to be able to work with tonight and it really feels like a homecoming.”

As well as taking part in various entertaining skits during the show, including a hilarious skit mocking the viral ones Dune popcorn bowl in the movie and musical performances Lopez, politician Nikki Haley also made a surprise cameo during the show’s cold open.

The former governor of South Carolina appeared in the SNL ‘CNN’s Republican Presidential Town Hall’ sketch that questions James Austin Johnson’s performance on former President Donald Trump. Edebiri also appeared in the open, as an audience member who asked a question to Haley.

“I was just curious what you would say was the main cause of the civil war?” she asked the politician. “Um, and do you think it starts with ‘s’ and ends with ‘lavery’?”

“Yeah, I probably should have said that the first time,” Haley replied before introducing the show itself: “And live from New York, it’s Saturday night!”

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Elsewhere on the show, Edebiri appeared to jokingly respond to negative comments she previously made about Lopez’s singing and career on the 2020 ‘Scam Goddess’ podcast.

“Okay, okay, we get it. It’s wrong to leave mean comments or post comments just for attention or rant about a podcast and you don’t consider the impact because you’re 24 and stupid,” the actress-host said during the skit titled ‘Why did you say that?’ — where contestants are shown comments they’ve previously made online and must explain why they wrote them.

“But I think I stand behind everyone when I say that we’re going to be a lot more careful about what we post online from here on out!”

Ahead of the big night, Edebiri appeared in a promotional video for her episode on Wednesday. In it, Edebiri gave an impassioned speech trying to pump up the cast of Mikey Day, Molly Kearney and Ego Nwodima. As the trio sat in the audience seats expressing their exhaustion, Edebiri dramatically declared, “This could be the biggest show of our lives!”

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She continued, “And you’re just going to let that opportunity slip by? A hundred million people could watch.”

Meeting with indifference from Day, Kearney and Nwodi, a resigned Edebiri said: “I just wanted to encourage you, because this is my first time hosting and J.Lo will be the musical guest.” At the mention of “Jenny from the Block,” the three jumped excitedly from their seats, stormed out of the room, and smashed the TV screen on their way out.

“Am I going to be charged for that?” asked Edebiri.

Will Heath/NBC via Getty

Edebiri has experienced a meteoric rise in the past year with starring roles in hit comedy films bottom alongside longtime friend Rachel Sennott in the acclaimed drama Bear opposite Jeremy Allen White. One of the breakout stars of 2023 crowned her big year with an Emmy for herself Bear role to Sydney Adamu, who won Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.

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The Golden Globe winner recently dropped out of the upcoming Marvel movie thunderbolts due to scheduling conflicts. Her next film is slated to be the lead in an A24 horror film titled Opus.

Saturday night live airs Saturdays at 11:30 PM ET on NBC.

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Source: HIS Education