Chris Rock returned to Studio 8H to host “Saturday Night Live” for the fourth time — joking in his highly anticipated monologue that President Biden’s middle finger “still works” after he controversially pardoned his son Hunter.
With the stage at 30 Rock decorated for Christmas, the legendary comic, who rose to fame as a cast member of SNL, was handed a microphone and sounded off on a wide range of current events.
“There’s a lot going on in the news, my God, it’s so crazy out there,” Rock commented in the beginning of his 7-minute opening act.
“The big story this week. Joe Biden pardoned his son,” he said later on.
“I gotta hand it to Joe, he don’t move as fast as he used to, he don’t talk as fast as he used to,” Rock said, moving slowly around the stage.
“But that middle finger still works,” he grinned, referring to the sweeping and shocking pardon of the first son.
“Only an animal would not pardon your son. Every parent in the world would pardon their son, except the parents of the Menendez Brothers.”
Rock did not touch on the smack heard round the world during his monologue.
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In 2022, after Oscars host Rock made a “G.I. Jane” joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s bald head, hubby Will Smith rose to her honor and slapped the comedian across the face in a moment immediately immortalized in the canon of live-TV.
Chris Rock was a featured player on the Saturday Night Live cast from 1990-1993, performing alongside greats like Adam Sandler, Chris Farley, Phil Hartman, and David Spade.
The South Carolina native went on to become one of the biggest stand-up comedians ever, recording specials like “Bring The Pain,” “Never Scared,” and the most recent “Collective Outrage.”
“The Beverly Hill Ninja” star has also directed several films including “I Think I Love My Wife,” “Top Five,” and “Head of State.”
