Chris Rock makes crowd groan with Elon Musk joke on Saturday Night Live

Rock referred to the Tesla and X owner as ‘the richest African American in the world’

Chris Rock made the crowd groan during his Saturday Night Live monologue by saying of Elon Musk: “Nobody knows how to get rid of people like a South African.”

The 59-year-old stand-up comedian and actor hosted the sketch comedy show last night (December 14).

During his monologue, Rock made reference to Donald Trump’s successful year, noting that he’d survived an assassination attempt, been re-elected to the US presidency and been named Time’s Person of the Year.

“It could happen to a nicer guy,” quipped Rock.

He went on to joke about Trump’s alliance with South African-born Telsa and Space X owner Elon Musk, saying: “He’s working with the number one African American in the world. The richest African American in the world: Elon Musk.

“That’s right. He is African American. Elon’s got more kids than the Cleveland Browns. That’s right. Nobody knows how to get rid of people like a South African.”

Chris Rock delivering the monologue on ‘Saturday Night Live’, December 14 2024 (Saturday Night Live/NBC)

The crowd groaned awkwardly after this line, as Rock continued to joke about Trump’s planned mass deportations: “Oh, he’s serious. Trump is not playing. He’s got Elon. They’re gonna put them on a rocket ship, call it Space Mex.”

Elsewhere in his monologue, Rock also joked about the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, saying that while he had condolences for his family, “sometimes drug dealers get shot.”

The night’s show had opened with Saturday Night Live jumping into the nation’s morbid fascination with Thompson’s alleged assassin, Luigi Mangione.

The cold open kicked off with Sarah Sherman’s incredulous true crime entertainer Nancy Grace, who complained that “women and gay guys alike” have made Mangione into a “sex symbol.”

She said Mangione looked like “Dave Franco with Eugene Levy’s eyebrows.”

“This man is not a sex icon. This man is — and I cannot say this any clearer — a murderer,” she said, slurring the “u” into incoherence.

Later in the sketch, she asks a character played by Kenan Thompson if he believes social media users are actually attracted to the “sexy slayer,” to which Thompson replied: “Well I mean, you can look at him and tell he had h**s.”

“I mean, women love bad boys,” said Thompson, whose character was at the Altoona, Pennsylvania restaurant where police discovered Mangione.

The sketch kicked back to Grace asking his character about the state of healthcare in the US, then cut back to Thompson shoving a McDonald’s burger into his mouth.

“People are saying healthcare in this country is bad. Then how come my dentist gives me breast exams for free?” she asked.

“Well Nancy, I been eating McDonald’s every day for 10 years,” Thompson’s character said. “I’ve got type-10 diabetes. … You know what my health insurance plan is called? ‘Hoping it goes away.’”