Saturday Night Live announced that it will count New York Knicks star Jalen Brunson among its first-time hosts for Season 52.
Fresh off leading the New York Knicks to an NBA championship and earning Finals MVP honors in June, Brunson will host the show’s season premiere with musical guest pop girl group Katseye on Sept. 26, according to The New York Times. Another first-time host, Obsession breakout Inde Navarrette, will host the show’s Halloween episode with musical guest Gracie Abrams.
Three-timers Dakota Johnson and Shane Gillis will return Oct. 3 and Oct. 10, respectively. Johnson will be joined by the rock band Turnstile, and Gillis by singer Rosalía.
Gillis was announced as part of the SNL cast in 2019, but was canned when offensive remarks he’d made on his podcast came to light. He later became a symbol of anti-political-correctness comedians in step with Joe Rogan, but surprised some fans last month when he told Rogan that he did not vote for Donald Trump.
His recruitment at SNL coincided with show boss Lorne Michaels’ attempts to draw more viewers from both sides of the political aisle.
Major shakeups have hit the show since then, particularly following Season 50, which saw the exodus of several cast favorites, including Heidi Gardner and Ego Nwodim.
More shock exits would follow, including Bowen Yang and Chloe Fineman’s. This week, Martin Herlihy, one-third of the show’s comedy troupe “Please Don’t Destroy,” announced his exit from the long-running series after five seasons.
