Dakota Johnson’s SNL return came with a surprise Swift cameo, a Madame Web joke and a nod to Travis Kelce.
Dakota Johnson’s SNL return came with a surprise guest. Taylor Swift crashed Johnson’s opening monologue on Saturday night, turning a bit about the actress’s love life into one of the most talked-about cameos of the young season.
Johnson, hosting Saturday Night Live for the third time, told the audience that since her last visit she had been through “two very public, very lame breakups with two very awesome musicians,” and that she was lucky to have friends who never judged her for dating them. Then the camera found Swift.
Johnson introduced the singer as “my literal therapist.” Swift was quick to correct her. “I’m not your therapist,” she said. “Actually, you just show up once a week at my house with an empty bottle of wine and ask if I want some.” Johnson insisted she was just being polite. Swift continued that Johnson then flops on her couch and overshares, and every so often Swift simply replies, “Damn, that’s crazy.” Johnson’s response: “Is that not a therapist?”
The pairing made perfect sense. Johnson stars alongside Colin Farrell in the music video for “Patient Zero,” Swift’s new single, which premiered at the MTV VMAs last Sunday, the same night Swift won video of the year. The song is one of four new tracks on The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore, the expanded edition of her album released September 25.
Johnson closed the monologue by arguing that dating musicians was actually a public service. “Ladies, I am saving you a lot of money on Zoloft,” she joked. “So, you’re welcome, America! And also England and parts of Ireland and Cleveland, allegedly.” Swift answered with a quick “woo-woo,” a wink at “Cleveland,” another new song from The Encore about her marriage to Travis Kelce.
Johnson also took a swing at her own filmography. Her last SNL hosting gig, in January 2024, came while she was promoting Madame Web, the Sony superhero movie that became one of the year’s biggest box office disappointments. “Tonight, I’m still promoting it,” she said, “because the movie hasn’t made any money yet.”
This time, she has a much better reason to be in town. Johnson stars in Verity, the Colleen Hoover thriller opposite Anne Hathaway and Josh Hartnett, which is expected to lead the box office this weekend after earning $4.5 million in Thursday previews. In our review, we called it a twisty, trashy good time.
The episode’s cold open went political, with a group of Republican figures filming campaign ads ahead of the midterms. Marcello Hernandez played Marco Rubio, Mikey Day played Mitch McConnell and Jeremy Culhane played J.D. Vance. Colin Jost turned up as Pete Hegseth, holding a can of Bero, the nonalcoholic beer brand co-founded by Tom Holland, before James Austin Johnson’s Donald Trump closed out the sketch.
Johnson first hosted SNL in February 2015 and has popped up several times since, including the show’s 40th anniversary special and a cameo during Josh O’Connor‘s hosting episode last December.
Season 52 premiered last week with Knicks star Jalen Brunson as host and Katseye as musical guest. Shane Gillis hosts next on October 10 with musical guest Rosalia, and Obsession star Inde Navarrette makes her hosting debut on the Halloween episode with Gracie Abrams.
