Last night (May 16), doppelgänger duo Chad Smith and Will Ferrell reignited their long-running pseudo-rivalry when the Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer hijacked the actor’s Saturday Night Live monologue, leaving musical guest Paul McCartney quite confused.
What Happened During Will Ferrell’s ‘SNL’ Monologue?
Ferrell hosted the final episode of Saturday Night Live’s 51st season (and joined the elite rank of being a six-time host in the process). As such, you’d think it was him coming out on stage during the opening moments, and at first glance, it appeared to be. Ingeniously, though, it was actual Smith who walked out, complete with a stylish dark blue suit and Ferrell’s trademark curly hair.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you very much. I’m thrilled to be back here hosting Saturday Night Live,” Smith began as the audience cheered and laughed. “I was a cast member here for seven years, and now I’m hosting for the sixth time! Amazing. It really feels like coming home.”
Then, the real – and severely confused – Will Ferrell ran out from backstage to confront Smith. “Hey, hey, hey! Excuse me. What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Smith said, “I think I’m hosting the show,” to which Ferrell replied:
You’re not the host. I am. You’re Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. [The crowd clapped]. No, shut up. Shut up. Everyone shut up. What the hell is wrong with you? He pushed me down backstage and I fell hard! Lorne [Michaels, series creator] had to give me mouth-to-mouth. Seriously, what are you even doing here?!”
Smith started explaining that he’s actually “the musical guest tonight,” only for Ferrell to tell him that he’s not. “No, Paul McCartney is the musical guest. . . . Get off the stage now!”
Naturally, the crowd cheered more, prompting Ferrell (now alone on stage) to admonish them: “No, don’t clap for him. Don’t! He’s a bad guy. God, I’m sorry. That was weird, right? That was really weird, okay. You know what? Let’s just do a hard reset.”
Ferrell tried acting like nothing happened before getting distracted: “It’s still weird, right? Yeah, it feels off. You guys feel that—it’s very off. I’m sorry. Chad Smith, you took the wind out of my sails. This sucks! I don’t even know if we should do the show. That’s where I’m at emotionally.”
The audience booed and Ferrell yielded.
“Whatever. Okay, fine. You know what? I’ll just do what the host does when they don’t have any ideas. I’ll take questions from the audience. Yeah, you sir. The cute one, right there,” Ferrell said while referencing McCartney’s label as the “cute” Beatle.
Then, the camera cut to McCartney, who stated: “Yeah, I have a question. Whatcha think you’re doing, Chad?!”
“No, no. Sir Paul McCartney. Wow. Why don’t you come up here? C’mon up,” Ferrell replied while helping McCartney to the stage. “I understand your confusion. Me and Chad do look a lot alike, but I’m Will. I’m hosting tonight.”
McCartney smirked as he responded with another Beatles reference: “Nice try, Chad. Get back behind the drums where you belong.”
“Paul, with all due respect,” Ferrell began, “You look like a fool right now. Now, I know you’ve written a lot of good songs.”
He then listed about a dozen of McCartney’s biggest songs, including “Let It Be,” “Hey Jude” and “Yesterday.” Naturally, the crowd cheered after each title. Finally, McCartney reminded him about “Penny Lane.”
“Yeah, sure, fine. There’s that one. But, people often forget there’s some great songs you didn’t write,” Ferrell answered. “’The Alphabet Song,’ ‘Timber’ (featuring Pitbull), I mean, all the Smash Mouth stuff.”
Irritated, McCartney demanded: “Get your ass behind the drums, Chad!”
“Yes, sir. Right away, sir, but first, we got a great show for you tonight!” Ferrell conceded before continuing his introduction as Smith came back on stage. As the show went to commercial, all three men shouted, “We’ll be right back!” and danced to the in-house music.
You can watch the full monologue below:
Chad Smith Hijacks Will Ferrell’s ‘SNL’ Monologue, Leaves Paul McCartney Confused (May 16, 2026)
READ MORE: Red Hot Chili Peppers Sell Recorded Music Catalog to WMG for a Staggering Amount of Money
What Else Happened on Saturday Night Live Last Night?
Per setlist.fm, McCartney played three songs as last night’s musical guest, and he was joined by Smith on drums for all of them.
First, they did “Days We Left Behind” (from McCartney’s upcoming solo album, The Boys of Dungeon Lane) and then followed with “Band on the Run” (from Wings’ 1973 LP of the same name). Surprisingly, the pair returned during the show’s requisite “goodbyes” and closing credits to do “Coming Up” from 1980’s McCartney II.
You can read more about McCartney’s performances here.
Per Deadline, McCartney also showed up in a sketch called “What It Feels Like Talking to a Mechanic” alongside “Ferrell, Marcello Hernández, Mikey Day and Ashley Padilla.” The publication elaborated:
The bit centered around the car mechanics’ (Ferrell, Hernández and McCartney) increasingly nonsensical jargon, which included lines from Flo Rida’s hit “Low” and odd moaning, groaning and screeching. “You’re gonna need a new transperson,” Ferrell said at one point. McCartney played chief mechanic Nigel, who told the couple (Day and Padilla): “Your tipsy-wipsy’s all dangly-doodly, and the spiggly-wiggly’s gone crumpet. The whole car is knackered.”
In their recap of the entire episode, Entertainment Weekly highlighted the episode’s cold open (during which various cast members, as well as Ferrell and Aziz Ansari, satirized the Trump Administration). Later, Ferrell appeared in sketches such as “Surgery,” “Cast List 2” (which featured a surprise cameo from fellow SNL alumni Molly Shannon) and “The Nudemans.”
Related News
Last week, Loudwire reported on Red Hot Chili Peppers selling their recorded music catalog to Warner Music Group for over $300 million. The sale comes about five years after the band sold their songwriting catalog to Hipgnosis for roughly $140 million.
As for McCartney, The Boys of Dungeon Lane – which follows 2020’s positively reviewed McCartney III – will arrive on May 29th via Capitol Records. It’s co-produced by McCartney and Andrew Watt (Elton John, The Rolling Stones, Pearl Jam, Ozzy Osbourne).
You can read more about the album here and preorder it here.
What’d you think of last night’s episode of Saturday Night Live? Let us know!
The Rock + Metal Songs That Passed 1 Billion Spotify Streams in 2026
As the years roll by, rock and metal artists have had songs cross the 1 billion stream threshold on Spotify with increasing regularity.
Quite a lot of the artists below have had other songs reach the milestone in previous years. For some, however, this is their very first entry on Spotify’s Billions Club playlist.
Gallery Credit: Joe DiVita
