SNL’s Lorne Michaels Is Hollywood’s Biggest Matchmaker

Christmas came early this year when the celebrity gossip gods convened and decided to give us the gift of Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson’s budding, heavily papped romance. The reality-TV queen was first linked to the comedian around Halloween, when a photograph of the two holding hands on a roller coaster began to make the rounds online. They’ve since been photographed holding hands on at least two other occasions. Tabloids keep publishing vague statements from “anonymous sources” about how good and refreshing Davidson is for her. The relationship reached Instagram official status when, confusingly, Flavor Flav posted a photo of himself with the couple, who were wearing matching Skims pajamas.

Does it reek of a PR-manufactured attention-grab? Yes. Do we care? Absolutely not! Anything or anyone that can get literal billionaire Kimberly Noel Kardashian West to eat mozzarella sticks at a chain red sauce joint in Staten Island deserves enthusiastic support. Bring on more hand-holding photos and speculation about whether or not that dark blur on Pete’s neck is a hickey (it definitely is). If this thing ends before we get a triple date with Kourtney, Travis Barker, Megan Fox, and Machine Gun Kelly, preferably filmed for the upcoming Kardashian Hulu series, there will be mutiny. The people deserve to see Kim and Kourt bond over counting their respective beaus’ neck tattoos.

When news of the rumored relationship first broke, there was a bit of head-scratching over the seemingly unlikely pairing. Of course, there was the predictable discourse about what this attractive, successful, staggeringly famous woman could possibly see in Davidson. Every time the Saturday Night Live star is connected to a new beautiful actress, singer, or model, people tweet the same icky joke about being perplexed by his dating track record. It’s not a mystery, people. As The Daily Beast reporter Laura Bradley recently pointed out, Davidson is both extremely hot and extremely funny.

Still, at first glance, Kardashian and Davidson do not appear to have much in common. The couple likely owes their flirty fling to the hottest, most exclusive celebrity dating service. No, not Raya—we’re talking about SNL. The two shared an onscreen kiss during Kardashian’s (surprisingly awesome) hosting gig back in October, just before they were spotted at the amusement park together. Below, we break down some of the other A-lister/SNL pairings brought together by accidental matchmaker Lorne Michaels.

Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost

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ScarJo has hosted SNL a whopping six times, but she first met writer and “Weekend Update” co-anchor Colin Jost when she appeared in a sketch he wrote in 2010. At the time, she was married to Ryan Reynolds, and would go on to marry French journalist Romain Dauriac before getting together with Jost in 2017. The couple were married in 2020 and welcomed a son earlier this year.

Emma Stone and Dave McCary

Love was truly in the air at 30 Rock when writer and segment director Dave McCary proposed to Emma Stone at the Saturday Night Live offices. They broke the news of the engagement in late 2019 with a sweet selfie on McCary’s Instagram page after dating discreetly for a few years. Stone gave birth to a baby girl in March of 2021.

Olivia Wilde and Jason Sudeikis

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Before Wilde was romanced by former boybander and certified heartthrob Harry Styles, she had a lengthy relationship with Jason Sudeikis. Wilde met Sudeikis at an SNL finale party in the fall of 2011, and the dating rumors began swirling a few months later. They were engaged from 2013 to sometime in 2020, and they have two children together, Daisy and Otis. Now, Sudeikis is reportedly dating his Ted Lasso co-star Keeley Hazell.

Ariana Grande and Pete Davidson

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Pete Davidson is no stranger to tabloid attention now, but his short-lived, whirlwind engagement to Ariana Grande in 2018 was the comedian’s first high-profile relationship. He and Grande met when she appeared as a musical guest on the show in 2016. Their relationship two years later attracted headlines for its speed and intensity, signified with matching tattoos and coming right on the heels of his breakup from Cazzie David. In fact, David and Davidson also met at 30 Rock when the former’s father, Larry David, hosted SNL in 2015.

Ben Affleck and Lindsay Shookus

As painful as it is to talk about Ben Affleck’s former flames in the midst of the all-important Bennifer Renaissance, the Gone Girl actor dated Saturday Night Live producer Lindsay Shookus for about a year in 2017. The two got together following Affleck’s split from Jennifer Garner.

Elisabeth Moss and Fred Armisen

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Sparks flew when The Handmaid’s Tale star (and vocal Scientologist) Elisabeth Moss and Fred Armisen met on the set of SNL in 2008. The couple were married in 2009, but Moss filed for divorce after just eight months. She has since described the marriage as “traumatic and awful and horrible,” and Armisen has not pushed back on her account of their union.

Carrie Fisher and Dan Aykroyd

Universal Pictures

This one is a major throwback. The ever-iconic Carrie Fisher and Dan Aykroyd met when she hosted Saturday Night Live in 1978 while he was a cast member. However, their love really blossomed on the set of The Blues Brothers. They were briefly engaged before Fisher rekindled her romance with Paul Simon.