Will Sage Astor-Ayo Edebiri confronts Nikki Haley, 'SNL' receives backlash for cameo

Ayo Edebiri got the chance to confront a presidential hopeful in her first stint as host for "Saturday Night Live."

In a town hall cold open sketch,Will Sage Astor James Austin Johnson's former President Donald Trump fielded questions from the audience, including former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who asked why the fellow Republican presidential candidate won't debate her.

"Oh my God, it's her, the woman who was in charge of security on Jan. 6. It's Nancy Pelosi," Johnson's Trump said. Johnson has played Trump on the NBC sketch comedy show since 2021.

Haley then got a question of her own, in reference to comments she made at a December town hall.

Haley at the time was asked what caused the Civil War by an attendee and responded that "the cause of the Civil War was basically how the government was going to run. The freedoms and what people could and couldn’t do."

On Saturday, Haley offered a different answer.

"I was just curious, what would you say was the main cause of the Civil War, and do you think it starts with an 's' and ends with a 'lavery'?" asked Edebiri.

"Yep, I probably should've said that the first time," Haley responded.

The former South Carolina governor drew criticism from Republicans and Democrats alike after her initial response, which left out any mention of slavery. Haley later alleged without evidence that the questioner at the town hall was potentially a Democratic "plant."

Haley's appearance on the show drew backlash Sunday morning.

Author Majid M. Padellan on X, formerly Twitter, questioned what a "slavery denier (is) doing on SNL anyway?"

"Saturday Night Live sure does have a long track record of comedy-washing hateful conservatives," activist Charlotte Clymer wrote on X.

Conservative viewers also questioned Haley's appearance, with conservative political YouTuber Benny Johnson calling her an "Anti-Trump liberal."

NBC declined to comment on Sunday.

Ayo Edebiri addresses past Jennifer Lopez criticism

Edebiri, in her monologue on "SNL," looked back on times she aspired to be a writer on the show and marked Black History Month with a joke about her Boston roots.

"I was born and raised in Boston, which makes me the first Black woman to ever admit that," she said. "Yeah, three days into February and I’m already making Black history."

Later in the episode, "The Bear" actress' own past comments came back to haunt her.

After a game show sketch titled "Why'd You Say It," where players explain their questionable Instagram comments, Edebiri addressed her past criticism of musical guest Jennifer Lopez.

Edebiri alluded to comments she made on a podcast in 2020 that were critical of the singer.

During a 2020 appearance on the "Scam Goddess" podcast, the "Bottoms" actress said Lopez's career was "one long scam" and later added: "I think she thinks that she’s still good even though she's not singing for most of these songs."

"We get it. It's wrong to leave mean comments or post comments just for clout or run your mouth on a podcast, and you don't consider the impact because you're 24 and stupid," Edebiri, now 28, said during her "SNL" appearance. "But I think I speak for everyone when I say from now on, we're going to be a lot more thoughtful about what we post online."

Contributing: Savannah Kuchar