Elon Musk’s debut as a host on Saturday Night Live was a bit awkward.

I mean, as much as showrunners may have tried to make us forget about it (they actually didn’t), he is, after all, the second richest man in the world, with an estimated net worth of over $158 billion, as of writing. NBC’s decision to put someone like that in the spotlight of one of their most beloved shows only a year after a sanitary crisis that led to a historic unemployment rate was… complicated, to say the least. 

When Musk was announced as this past weekend’s SNL host, the internet was on fire. On one side, die-hard fans of the eccentric tech multi-billionaire/car-maker/rocket-launcher couldn’t be more excited for his appearance, while others criticized the show not only for the aforementioned reasons but also because of the growing list of major controversies he’s been involved in over the past few years – including, but not limited to: downplaying the Covid-19 pandemic, potentially manipulating the stock market through his tweets, and wanting to control journalism. 

Let’s find out just how live Saturday Night Live really is 😈

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 25, 2021

Cast members Aidy Bryant and Bowen Yang publicly criticized the host choice on social media, while Pete Davidson just didn’t “know why people are freaking out.” Nevertheless, the show must go on, and turns out Musk’s divisive appearance was a good business for SNL: the May 8 episode was the season’s third-most-watched (a feat that may or may not have been helped by the presence of musical guest Miley Cyrus and the fact that this marked the show’s first edition to be live-streamed internationally via YouTube). 

It is also notable that Musk was the first SNL host in nearly six years who isn’t an athlete or entertainer (at least in the traditional sense), per the Los Angeles Times. The one before him, you ask? Then-presidential candidate Donald Trump in November 2015.

In the end, the episode was less a provocation and more an infomercial of Musk’s endeavors as the head of Tesla and SpaceX, cryptocurrency aficionado, and Grimes’s boyfriend. Take a look at some of the biggest takeaways from the event below:

Musk has Asperger’s

Musk opened his monologue by revealing he has Asperger’s syndrome, a condition on the autism spectrum. “So, I won’t make a lot of eye contact with the cast tonight,” he said. “But don’t worry, I’m pretty good at running ‘human’ in emulation mode.” A brave announcement but, unlike Musk claimed, he wasn’t the first person with Asperger’s to host the show – former SNL cast member Dan Aykroyd also has been open about having Asperger’s and was a host in 2003. 

How do you pronounce…?

Musk joked about his son’s singular name – he and Grimes welcomed their first child together in 2020 and nearly broke the internet when they revealed the baby boy was named X Æ A-12 Musk. “It’s pronounced ‘cat running across the keyboard,’” Musk said. 

Musk, too, was a child once

The episode paid homage to Mother’s Day, with most of the cast members appearing alongside their real-life mothers for a sweet cold open while Cyrus sang a cover of her godmother Dolly Parton’s “Light of a Clear Blue Morning” – Miley’s mother, Tish, was also there. Musk’s mother, model and dietitian Maye Musk, joined him for his monologue, recalling how she had to open a bank account for him when he was only 12 so he could get paid for a video game he created. Charming.

“What is Dogecoin?”

With Musk being a famous cryptocurrency and Dogecoin enthusiast, it wasn’t surprising that some of the sketches would poke fun at this side of his personality. During the monologue, his mother asked what he got her for Mother’s Day saying, “I just hope it’s not dogecoin!” (“It sure is,” he responded.) In “Cowboy Standoff,” Musk played an Old West version of himself who suggests they should create their own currency. But it was during the “Weekend Update” segment that he most explicitly touched on the subject.

Musk joined Colin Jost and Michael Che as “Financial Expert Lloyd Ostertag,” who tries to explain what are cryptocurrencies and, more specifically, Dogecoin. Che repeatedly asked “What is Dogecoin?” until, finally, Musk admitted it was simply “a hustle.” The audience reacted and so did the stock market: after the show aired, Dogecoin dipped by about 40% in value.

Grimes, just Grimes

After almost exactly three years since Grimes and Musk made their debut as a couple at the Met Gala in 2018, the otherworldly musician also made her SNL debut alongside Tesla’s “technoking.” She made a cameo as Nintendo’s Princess Peach in the courtroom-themed sketch “Wario,” where Musk appeared as Super Mario’s “evil” counterpart. Still waiting for her musical guest performance, NBC!

Musk is relatable – but not really

Despite poking fun at himself multiple times and even joking that, just like most of us, he has no idea how to properly interact with people in a post-pandemic reality, Elon Musk is still… Elon Musk. Old West Leron is a dreamer who just wants to make life easier for everyone, while “Chad on Mars” Elon is a strong leader who can guide humanity on a space adventure. But at the end of the day, those appear to be the same qualities that grant him carte blanche to just do whatever he pleases (along with, you know, being a multi-billionaire, etc., etc.). “To anyone I’ve offended, I just want to say — I reinvented electric cars and I’m sending people to Mars on a rocket ship,” he said in his monologue. “Did you think I was also gonna be a chill, normal dude?”