Saturday Night Live’s satirical spotlight shone brightly on both sides of the Atlantic this past weekend, as SNL UK and the original U.S. version delivered cold opens that tackled politics, scandal, and the art of denial with their trademark irreverence. Both shows zeroed in on Melania Trump’s recent press conference denying any association with Jeffrey Epstein, weaving the controversy into sketches that poked fun at the former First Lady, her husband, and a host of other public figures.
On April 11, 2026, SNL UK opened with comic Emma Sidi stepping into the shoes of Melania Trump. The scene: a garden barbecue in Croydon, south London, where Sidi’s Melania barged in to assure a group of bemused Londoners that she “never have I ever been friends with billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.” The line, a clear parody of Melania Trump’s real-life press statement from earlier in the week, immediately set the comedic tone. When the BBQers—played by Al Nash, Annabel Marlow, and Jack Shep—asked why she was there, Melania replied, “I’m here to stop you nasty people spreading rumors about me.” The group, thoroughly confused, insisted they hadn’t even been talking about her.
The sketch didn’t let up, as Sidi’s Melania refused to drop the subject, even during a game of truth or dare. “How dare you accuse me of female friendship with short-haired sex-trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell…” she exclaimed, drawing laughs and groans in equal measure. The BBQers, reflecting the broader public’s bafflement, wondered aloud, “Why do you keep bringing up all the Epstein stuff? Your husband literally started a war to distract us from it. It was kinda working, to be fair to the lad.” In a moment of comedic vulnerability, Melania finally admitted, “I have no friends, since they all randomly died in a maximum security prison…”
But Melania wasn’t the only target. The SNL UK episode, hosted by British comedian Jack Whitehall, spread its satirical net wide, taking aim at Keir Starmer, Peter Mandelson, Donald Trump, Rishi Sunak, Palantir, Scott Mills, and even the Grand National. Whitehall opened the show with jokes about his upcoming wedding to model Roxy Horner, quipping, “It’s like planning a royal wedding. The whole thing could be ruined if my uncle turned up.” The musical guest was Jorja Smith, adding a dash of cool to the evening’s proceedings.
Despite the sharp writing and positive critical reception, SNL UK has seen its viewership dip since its premiere. According to BARB figures reported by Deadline, the third episode, hosted by Riz Ahmed, drew 130,100 viewers at 10PM on Sky—down 36% from the second week and 42% from the debut, which was hosted by Tina Fey and watched by 226,000. Still, SNL UK remains above the average for Sky’s late Saturday slot and continues to outperform the UK transmission of the U.S. version, which airs on Sky Comedy.
Meanwhile, across the pond, the original Saturday Night Live was busy lampooning the same news cycle. In the April 11-12, 2026 episode, James Austin Johnson’s Donald Trump took center stage in the cold open with a series of increasingly absurd phone calls from the Oval Office. First up: Tiger Woods, played by Kenan Thompson. Trump called to ask if Woods was playing in the Masters, only to be reminded, “No, sir. I don’t know if you remember but I flipped my car and got a DUI.” Trump, never missing a beat, replied, “As in, ‘Do he drive on pills?’ Yes he do.” Woods joked back, but when Trump suggested that telling the police they were friends would have helped, Woods shot down the idea: “Well, I did and they didn’t.”
Next, Trump fielded a call from his wife, Melania, played by Chloe Fineman. In a nod to the real-world headlines, Melania declared, “Listen, I decided I should do a big, random speech, completely out of nowhere, and say I am not Epstein victim. Is that good?” Trump, exasperated, replied, “Darling, I gotta admit, this sounds a little insane. Who are you? Me?” The sketch leaned into the absurd, as Melania suggested she could also deny helping the Gilgo Beach serial killer or barely partying with Diddy, to which Trump responded, “Darling, I think that’s gonna make everyone way more suspicious.”
The U.S. cold open didn’t stop there. Trump called Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (Colin Jost) to check in on the war in Iran. Hegseth, in classic SNL fashion, replied, “Well, rest assured, sir, Iran is as obliterated as me every Saturday night, allegedly. We’ve destroyed everything. We wet their willies, tapped their sacks, and purpled every single nurple.” He went on to joke about restarting the draft with 40-year-olds: “Yeah, put that finger mustache to work pulling a trigger.” Trump, feigning confidence, said, “Don’t worry about the negotiations, I just heard they’re going really, really bad. I sent in my secret weapon, JD Vance. After those Iranians spent 20 hours talking to JD, they said, ‘Please, sir, just go back to bombing us.’”
Adding another layer of meta-humor, the sketch opened with Trump drafting an Easter Sunday threat to Iran with Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt (Ashley Padilla). Leavitt expressed concern about Trump’s sarcastic attack on Islam, but Trump brushed it off: “It’s a sarcastic attack on the world’s largest religion. They famously have a great sense of humor about that kind of stuff.” The show even broke the fourth wall, with Johnson’s Trump telling viewers that all three women—Leavitt, former Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, and former Attorney General Pam Bondi—were played by the same actress, Ashley Padilla.
While both SNL UK and the U.S. SNL riffed on Melania Trump’s Epstein denial, each show brought its own flavor to the satire. The UK version leaned into British skepticism and dry wit, with Croydon BBQers as stand-ins for a public bemused by American scandals. The U.S. version, meanwhile, reveled in over-the-top absurdity, using Trump’s phone calls as a vehicle for rapid-fire jokes about scandal, war, and political theater.
Despite the ratings slide for SNL UK, both shows demonstrated the enduring appeal of political satire in the face of controversy. As the news cycle churns and public figures issue denials that only seem to invite more scrutiny, SNL’s writers and performers continue to find new ways to lampoon, provoke, and entertain. For viewers on both sides of the Atlantic, it’s a reminder that sometimes the best way to process the week’s headlines is to laugh at the madness—together, if only for a Saturday night.