“Saturday Night Live” started 2023 with a bang when Aubrey Plaza made her hosting debut January 23, and the show kept the hot streak going with another healthy dose of star power this week. Michael B. Jordan made his way to Studio 8H to emcee this week’s episode, marking the first time the “Creed III” director and star has hosted the long-running sketch show.
Jordan’s monologue kept things short and sweet, with the actor reflecting on the 20 years in show business that led him to this point. The actor said that working at 30 Rockefeller Center reminded him of his stint as a teenage soap opera star.
“Yesterday, I had a full circle moment. We pre-shot some videos for the show, and when I got to the studio, I realized it was the exact same place where I shot one of my first acting roles on the soap opera ‘All My Children.’ I was 16 years old,” Jordan said. He then went on to play a charmingly cringey clip of him on the show, pretending to howl at the moon as he flirted with a girl. The video prompted Jordan to quip that he “Hit puberty mid-howl.”
The conversation inevitably turned to Jordan’s recent public breakup with Lori Harvey and the viral image of him looking sad at an NBA game. Jordan explained that a photographer simply caught him at an unflattering moment, and that he wasn’t nearly as sad as memes made him out to be. Still, he expressed relief that a Google search for “sad Michael Jordan” would primarily result in memes of the basketball legend with whom he shares a name.
Once Jordan revealed that he’s single again, the show’s female cast members all tried to shoot their shots with the 2020 Sexiest Man Alive. Chloe Fineman, Heidi Gardner, Ego Nwodim (who wore a wedding dress for the occasion) and Punkie Johnson all made a display of comically flirting with Jordan. The actor was particularly surprised to see Johnson hitting on him, asking, “Punkie, aren’t you gay?”
“I am, but you’re Michael B. Jordan,” Johnson said. “Even vegans have cheat days.”
Watch Jordan’s “Saturday Night Live” monologue below.
Jordan’s monologue kept things short and sweet, with the actor reflecting on the 20 years in show business that led him to this point. The actor said that working at 30 Rockefeller Center reminded him of his stint as a teenage soap opera star.
“Yesterday, I had a full circle moment. We pre-shot some videos for the show, and when I got to the studio, I realized it was the exact same place where I shot one of my first acting roles on the soap opera ‘All My Children.’ I was 16 years old,” Jordan said. He then went on to play a charmingly cringey clip of him on the show, pretending to howl at the moon as he flirted with a girl. The video prompted Jordan to quip that he “Hit puberty mid-howl.”
The conversation inevitably turned to Jordan’s recent public breakup with Lori Harvey and the viral image of him looking sad at an NBA game. Jordan explained that a photographer simply caught him at an unflattering moment, and that he wasn’t nearly as sad as memes made him out to be. Still, he expressed relief that a Google search for “sad Michael Jordan” would primarily result in memes of the basketball legend with whom he shares a name.
Once Jordan revealed that he’s single again, the show’s female cast members all tried to shoot their shots with the 2020 Sexiest Man Alive. Chloe Fineman, Heidi Gardner, Ego Nwodim (who wore a wedding dress for the occasion) and Punkie Johnson all made a display of comically flirting with Jordan. The actor was particularly surprised to see Johnson hitting on him, asking, “Punkie, aren’t you gay?”
“I am, but you’re Michael B. Jordan,” Johnson said. “Even vegans have cheat days.”
Watch Jordan’s “Saturday Night Live” monologue below.