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'Aaron Rodgers' stars in Russian propaganda in new SNL cold open
In the most recent Saturday Night Live cold open, a military officer and two White House advisors (Kenan Thompson, Alex Moffat, and Ego Nwodim) assembled in the Oval Office to brief President Biden (James Austin Johnson) on the crisis in Ukraine.
"We're even getting some reports that Russia has already invaded, but those are from the same people who said Tom Brady retired," Nwodim said.
ESPN announced Saturday that seven-time Super Bowl winner Brady had decided to retire after 22 seasons, but other sources — including Brady's own father — quickly contradicted the story in statements to The Associated Press and other reporters. Brady, they said, has not yet made up his mind.
Moffat and Nwodim went on to explain that, in addition to Russia's military threat, Ukraine has also been inundated with Russian disinformation. They came prepared with a slide show of examples.
"Ukrainian President Horny for Drama, Wants War: 'Slap Me Harder, Daddy,'" one farcical headline read.
Next up was, "Neil Young To Remove Music from Spotify Unless Ukraine Surrenders," a reference to the "Cortez the Killer" singer's ultimatum forcing the streaming service to choose between Neil Young and Joe Rogan, who Young accused of spreading COVID-19 misinformation.
Russia's "disinformation campaign" also included a TV ad starring NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers (Pete Davidson). The real Rodgers floated the possibility of retirement after a Jan. 22 loss to the 49ers ended his season.
"Oh no! I am American balltoss player Aaron Rodgers, and my car has broken down in Ukraine," Davidson-as-Rodgers said with a thick Eastern European accent. To save himself, he sang a version of the State Farm jingle: "Like a good neighbor, Russia is there!"
As an agent (Chris Redd) appeared to rescue Rodgers, the State Farm logo appeared on the screen, revealing State Farm's Russian name to be Колхоз, a term referring to Soviet-era collectivized agriculture.
SNL writer Colin Jost studied Russian literature at Harvard.