SNL season finale cold open sees ghost of Jeffrey Epstein played by Will Ferrell ‘haunt’ Trump as dark jokes leave viewers shocked

Saturday Night Live kicked off its 51st season with a cold open filled with dark humor, with host Will Ferrell portraying the ghost of disgraced pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, who has returned from the dead to haunt Donald Trump.

The skit began with cast member James Austin Johnson sitting in the Oval Office as president and moved away from there.

Will Ferrell later appeared with gray hair wrapped in shackles as a convicted sex offender to visit his ‘best friend’.

Johnson’s Trump was gleefully surprised to see Ferrell as the ghost of Epstein, but noting that his approval rating had dipped into the 30s let him know things weren’t right.

30s? Gross – call me when it gets to 5pm,” Epstein replied.

‘It’s a dark, very dark, dark situation. So what are you doing these days, Jeff? How’s heaven?’ The president asked and Epstein replied: ‘It’s really hot.’

When asked about his summer plans, Johnson’s Trump response was that he would take part in the World Cup, host the Patriot Games for American high school students and take part in a UFC fight on the White House lawn like the ‘white trash from Worldstar’.

The president then asked the ghost of Epstein for a high-five, which set up the sickening punchline, a reference to the financier’s suicide in his prison cell: ‘You know what, I’m going to leave you hanging this time.’

In the skit, Epstein’s ghost showed Trump a series of future fortunes, including those that await his administration.

Colin Jost and Aziz Ansari, pictured above, portrayed Pete Hegseth and Kash Patel smoking pot and alcohol on a podcast.

Epstein’s ghost later spawned a series of ‘visions’ of the future of the Trump administration; former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem appeared as a host on the Home Shopping Network, and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth smoked pot on a podcast with FBI Director Kash Patel.

Comedians set up a discourse about how “crazy” the Trump administration is by referring to the Daily Mail’s exclusive about Noem’s husband wearing different clothes as a “big-breasted whore.”

Colin Jost reprized his role as Pete Hegseth, playing the secretary as a drunken student alongside Aziz Ansari’s bumbling Kash Patel.

Jost’s Hegseth said he was podcasting to promote his new ‘hard water’ product ‘Poland Sprung’.

Epstein’s ghost had one last fortune to uncover: The United States came second only to the war in Iran.

Farrell later sent a harsh message to Trump, telling the president: ‘Donny, remember this: no matter how many wars you start or crash the economy as a distraction, people will always associate you with me. And that, my dear friend, is a beautiful thing.’

The duo then broke into song, a duet with Bill Withers’ 1981 hit Just the Two of Us.

The skit stunned the audience. Some fans found the humor in the dark opening, others claimed it was insensitive to Epstein’s actual victims, while MAGA fanatics criticized the series for its depiction of Trump’s relationship with the notorious pedophile.

Controversial skit received mixed reactions from viewers

Cast member Ashley Padilla, pictured above, portrays Kristi Noem as a host on the Home Shopping Network.

The cold open criticized Trump for his friendship with disgraced pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. The president is seen above with Melania Trump, Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell in 2000.

“There was never anything funny about Epstein,” one viewer commented.

‘I don’t know how to feel about this opening. “I don’t want to laugh in honor of the victims, but I also want to laugh because it will remind people of Poland Sprung and the fact that it’s going to make people so angry that they shouldn’t stop talking about it,” he added.

‘SO bold… SO creative… Raising fantastic smoke in SNL season finale…’ wrote a third.

But some praised the cold open, with one on X posting: ‘Donald Trump and Ghost of Jeffrey Epstein singing ‘just the two of us’ was a real laugh out loud moment.’

Trump and Epstein crossed paths frequently and reportedly had a close friendship in New York in the ’90s and early 2000s.

Trump appeared thousands of times in public files related to the Justice Department’s investigation into Epstein’s sex crimes.

The controversial cold open capped SNL’s 51st season, which featured a series of skits skewering the Trump administration.