Former Nintendo Staff Recall Internal Disapproval of Elon Musk Wario SNL Sketch
Former Nintendo employees Krysta Yang and Kit Ellis told the Kit and Krysta podcast that a previous Saturday Night Live sketch in which Elon Musk portrayed Nintendo's Wario was not well received by Nintendo staff. They emphasized that Nintendo had no involvement in producing the sketch, despite regular communications with late‑night show producers for promotional purposes.
Key points
- Krysta Yang and Kit Ellis, both former Nintendo staff, said an SNL sketch featuring Elon Musk as Wario was poorly received internally.
- The sketch included controversial jokes that made Nintendo employees uncomfortable.
- According to the interviewees, Nintendo did not participate in the sketch’s production.
- Their comments were prompted by a new SNL segment pitting Grand Theft Auto 6 against The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake.
What happened
During the Kit and Krysta podcast, former Nintendo employees Krysta Yang and Kit Ellis recalled an older Saturday Night Live sketch in which Elon Musk appeared dressed as Nintendo character Wario. Both said the sketch "did not go over well" and was "not beloved" by Nintendo staff, citing uncomfortable subject matter such as references to drug use and blurred images [source:02b012c4-f6f6-45c8-891f-8f9f8ef4b9d9].
They added that the sketch seemed to come from "leftfield" because it was not tied to any current Nintendo game release, leaving staff to wonder "Why is Elon Musk Wario?" [source:02b012c4-f6f6-45c8-891f-8f9f8ef4b9d9].
Background
Yang and Ellis, who each spent more than a decade at Nintendo, explained that while Nintendo maintains a communications team that coordinates with late‑night shows to provide game information, the company had no involvement in creating the Wario sketch [source:02b012c4-f6f6-45c8-891f-8f9f8ef4b9d9].
Their recollection was prompted by a recent SNL sketch that humorously compared the upcoming releases of Grand Theft Auto 6 and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake.
Why it matters
According to Yang and Ellis, the episode shows how Nintendo must manage brand perception when external media portray its characters in unexpected ways.
What we know
- Krysta Yang and Kit Ellis are former Nintendo employees.
- They stated on their podcast that an SNL sketch featuring Elon Musk as Wario was not well received by Nintendo staff.
- They said Nintendo had no involvement in the production of that sketch.
What remains unclear
- The specific internal actions Nintendo took in response to the sketch are not detailed in the source.
