The Real-World Consequence Of Elon Musk's SNL Appearance

"Saturday Night Live," also known as "SNL," is one of the most influential television shows of the last four decades. The late-night comedy sketch show has featured cast members like Eddie Murphy, Adam Sandler, and Tina Fey, among many others who have gone on to have hugely successful careers. Each episode features a famous host who acts alongside the season's cast in sketches and bits, as well as a musical performance.

The most recent celebrity host on "SNL" caused tons of backlash before he even appeared on air. "SNL" took a brief hiatus due to the COVID-19 crisis, and the billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk was slated to host the first episode of the show's return. Fans of "SNL" took to social media to bring up Musk's previous problematic statements and show their disdain for the casting choice. While the episode received fairly positive reviews, it also had a somewhat surprising real-world consequence due to Musk's performance.

As a CEO, engineer, and all-around businessman, it's no surprise that Musk would be at the forefront of cryptocurrency, which some see as the future of finance. However, the only coin he's really expressed interest in is dogecoin, which started off as a meme and doesn't really have any actual use case. Regardless, he's taken to Twitter multiple times to wax poetic about the coin, using the phrasing "to the moon" to suggest it will soar to crazy heights and gain investors a ton of money.

Unfortunately for doge enthusiasts, Musk's "SNL" debut caused the controversial coin to go down at an amazing rate. When Musk's mother Maye joined him on stage for his opening monologue, the two had a conversation about dogecoin. According to CNN, after the Musks mentioned dogecoin, investors sold it off rapidly and caused its price to go down by 40%. It was a stark contrast to the excitement on social media before Musk's airtime when investors pumped up the value of the coin as high as 70 cents.

During his "SNL" appearance, Musk joked about dogecoin being a "hustle," which may be another reason the cryptocurrency took such a beating after the episode aired. The crypto market is notoriously volatile so it's likely that dogecoin will continue to rise and fall, but Musk definitely has some damage control to consider if he wants investors to take another chance on it.