On the latest episode of Saturday Night Live, alleged criminals Julian Assange and Lori Loughlin met face to face in the cold open sketch. The one and only Michael Keaton made a surprise appearance in the segment to play the heavily-bearded Assange, while series star Kate McKinnon took on the role of Loughlin. Pete Davidson, Kenan Thompson, Chris Redd, and Kyle Mooney also appear in the segment as other prisoners. Of course, the point of the sketch is for Assange and Loughlin to meet as perhaps the two most talked about celebrities currently facing some very serious legal trouble.
The skit is presented as an episode of Lockup, with an MSNBC narrator boasting the network is "back to prison shows" after the underwhelming results of the Mueller investigation. At the start, a group of inmates start bragging about their crimes to see which among them is the toughest. That's when Lori Loughlin steps into view, beating them all by saying, "Oh yeah, you think that's insane? I paid 500 grand to get my daughters in USC." The Fuller House star then pulls out a shiv when a prisoner asks if she's Aunt Becky, and even reveals herself to have joined the Nation of Islam since entering prison.
Moments later, the inmates notice Julian Assange, who's quick to take the credit for being the craziest one in the room. When a prisoner challenges Assange, the WikiLeaks founder responds by leaking personal information from the inmate's phone, including his "ding dong pics." Assange also tells the man about his hidden folder called "Ideas for Shark Tank," to prove he knows everything about him. The controversial whistleblower then launches into a tirade about how he's an "actual James Bond villain" before asking for the bathroom so he can "go take a WikiLeak." The segment closes out with an appearance from Takashi 6ix9ine (Melissa Villaseñor) saying he's only there for "just robbery and gun stuff."
In recent years, it has become more commonplace for SNL to bring in surprise celebrity guests for the cold open segments. Last week, former series starJason Sudeikis returned to reprise his recurring role as former vice president Joe Biden, poking fun at the allegations about the politician's inappropriate behavior with women. The previous week, movie star Robert DeNiro appeared in the cold open as Robert Mueller, satirizing the results of the infamous Mueller Report. The list goes on and on, and you never quite know who you're going to see turn up next in the opening segment on Saturday Night Live.
Just days ago, Assange was barred from Ecuador's London embassy where he had been staying for years to avoid prosecution. The WikiLeaks founder is being charged with conspiracy for his part in allegedly publishing classified government documents with the assistance of former intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning. As for Loughlin, the famous actress and her husband were arrested on charges of fraudulently enrolling their two daughters into the prestigious University of Southern California. Best known for appearing on Hallmark series When Calls the Heart in addition to her role as Aunt Becky on the Netflix comedy series Fuller House, Loughlin has since found herself jobless as she's been fired from each show. Of course, Assange and Loughlin are both facing heavy jail time.
Something both Assange and Loughlin have in common is how their arrests are garnering mixed reactions from the public. While both have technically broken the law, each have many supporters arguing that jail time is unfair. Ultimately, however, it will be up to the courts to decide what happens with the both of them. You can watch the SNL segment satirizing the pair's legal issues below.