Bad Bunny got a little help from his friends during his first “Saturday Night Live” hosting gig.
“SNL” returned for another new episode of Season 49 on Saturday, Oct. 21, with Bad Bunny taking on double duty as host and musical guest.
By his side throughout the night was actor Pedro Pascal, who hosted a fan favorite episode of “SNL” in February 2023. During the show, Pascal reprised one of his beloved characters in a sequel to the sketch “Protective Mom.”
In “Protective Mom 2,” Marcello Hernández is prepping his girlfriend, newcomer Chloe Troast, to meet his aunt while his mom isn’t home.
Much like the original sketch, his aunt — portrayed by Bad Bunny — doesn’t have many nice things to say about Hernández’s girlfriend, at one point calling Troast “very Old Navy” in Spanish. Hernández tells Troast, “Don’t worry about her. She’s just a little bit protective, but it’s nothing compared to my mom.”
Like clockwork, Pascal enters the kitchen and hits Hernández with a slipper before they embrace in a hug.
Pascal gives Troast the same treatment as Bad Bunny, even tossing out the cookies she brought as a gift because they were not homemade. However, Pascal did save the tin the sweets came in, immediately sweeping yarn and thread into the container.
Things go downhill when the group sits down for dinner and Troast tells Pascal and Bad Bunny that she works at her dad’s non-profit, which causes Pascal to refer to her as a “nepo baby.” The insults continue with Bad Bunny saying Troast has a “flat butt” and looks like she’d “work at Starbucks.”
When Troast tries to share the good things she’s done for Hernández, including help him with his depression, Bad Bunny and Pascal both get defensive, with the “Last of Us” star yelling, “My son does not have depression! He just like the dark!”
Troast defends herself once more by proposing the group just eat dinner so it doesn’t go to waste. When Hernández says that he’s lost his appetite, Troast replies, “How many times have I told you, you do not eat enough?,” which causes Pascal and Bad Bunny to turn to one another and hold hands.
“She want to feed my son!” Pascal coos.
Hernández recently shared the back story behind the original “Protective Mom” sketch during his appearance on “Late Night with Seth Meyers” Oct. 10.
The comedian told host Seth Meyers, “[Pedro Pascal] came to the show and he kind of had this idea of wanting to do something in Spanish, and he wanted to be my mother…and I was lucky enough to be the only person at the show that could write in Spanish.”
Though Hernández said that Pascal’s character was “not physically” based on his mother, there was one line in particular that inspired one of Pascal’s lines from the original sketch — “My son don’t have ADD, he just like to jump!”
Pascal made his first appearance of the night during Bad Bunny’s monologue when the singer invited him on stage to translate. However, after claiming all he had said was, “I’m blessed to be here with my favorite actor, Pedro Pascal,” Bad Bunny had him pivot to giving him advice on his monologue.
Pascal’s advice, which was to make a self-depreciating joke about oneself, apparently did not apply to Bad Bunny.
The “Tití Me Preguntó” rapper said he wasn’t able to share an anecdote about an “unflattering” part of his physical appearance because he didn’t have any. He also couldn’t seem to find an embarrassing photo of himself.
As a last resort, Pascal had Bad Bunny tell the audience exactly what he wanted to say, which included expressing his gratitude for being at “SNL,” his thanks to fans for supporting him, and his appreciation to his family watching in Puerto Rico.
Pascal also later returned to the stage to introduce Bad Bunny before he performed his song “Monaco.”
