In the wake of the tragic attacks on Paris on Friday, Nov. 13, Saturday Night Live opted for a somber cold open for its Saturday, Nov. 14 show. In place of a monologue from the host of the evening — Elizabeth Banks — the show opted for a tribute for the City of Light.
Cast member Cecily Strong offered a message of solidarity for the touching moment.
“Paris is the city of light, and here in New York City, we know that light will never go out,” she said in English, before translating the words into French.
The rest of the show played out as planned, however, with the 1960s-era “Adventures of Young Ben Carson” making the loudest splash.
“The media went after him pretty hard even though he’s one of the most accomplished doctors in all the land — a true success story,” a voiceover for the sketch began. “But I knew him before all that. I knew him when he was just a young brother on the streets of Detroit, back when he was young Ben Carson.”
The skit showed Jay Pharoah as Carson, a street-wise youth who wields and knife and tells a smug rival hoodlum, “Like a Muslim in the White House, you don’t belong.”
At another point in the sketch, Carson’s mom comes to tell her son to stay off the street lest he wind up in prison.
“I can’t go to prison, Mama,” Pharaoh as Carson said. “People go to prison and come out gay. I’m not ready to be gay.”
The twist? Quotes used in the sketch were things Carson has said on public record in real life.
See what else young Ben Carson said, and meet his best friend, black Jesus, in the clip above.
