Nintendo and Elon Musk: reaction to 2021 SNL Wario sketch

• The reaction is attributed to Kit Ellis and Krysta Yang, who said on their YouTube channel that the sketch did not go over well internally.
• The reporting also compares the sketch with a more recent SNL segment featuring Zelda’s Link and GTA 6’s Jason Duvall.

What happened

IGN published a story about the 2021 Saturday Night Live sketch in which Elon Musk played Wario. According to the article, Nintendo was not enthusiastic about it, but that conclusion does not come from an official statement by the company. The reporting is based on comments from two former Nintendo PR managers, Kit Ellis and Krysta Yang, who later discussed the topic on their YouTube channel, Kit & Krysta.

In the description of that video, the sketch is said to have left Nintendo unhappy. IGN summarizes their comments as an internal reaction that did not go over well and was not well liked. That means the core of the story remains a secondhand account of an internal impression, not a public position from Nintendo itself.

According to the reporting, Ellis found the timing notable because there was no new Wario game or other Wario product out in 2021. That detail is used in the article to explain why the sketch felt especially odd to him. The sketch itself drew attention because Musk played Wario and the scene included jokes about Mario, Luigi, and Princess Peach.

The source material also notes that the sketch was placed in the broader SNL pop-culture context alongside a more recent episode featuring Zelda’s Link and GTA 6’s Jason Duvall. Based on the available information, that is mainly a comparison and context point, not confirmation that Nintendo reacted to the later sketch in the same way.

Background

The core of the story comes from a YouTube segment by Kit & Krysta, the channel run by the two former Nintendo employees. The available video metadata explicitly says Nintendo was reportedly not happy with Elon Musk’s 2021 SNL sketch in which he played Wario. That makes the video relevant as context, but not as direct confirmation of an official company response.

The sources do not show Nintendo publicly responding to the sketch itself. There is also no documentation in the supplied material showing that the reported displeasure extended beyond the former PR staff cited in the IGN piece. As a result, it remains unclear whether the reaction was limited to a small part of the company or reflected a broader internal view.

The sketch itself is described in the supplied context sources as an SNL segment in which Grimes played Princess Peach and Elon Musk played Wario. Other context sources also mention Kate McKinnon as Waluigi. Those details help place the scene, but they do not change the main point: the available sources tie the negative reaction to former Nintendo PR, not to an official Nintendo statement.

In the same reporting, the older sketch is contrasted with a more recent SNL episode featuring Zelda’s Link and GTA 6’s Jason Duvall. Based on the supplied sources, that is mainly a content comparison between two sketches with video game characters. There is no source in the dossier showing that Nintendo publicly reacted to that later sketch or that the comparison says anything about a changed company policy.

The open questions in the dossier therefore remain important. The sources do confirm that the sketch aired in 2021 and that two former Nintendo PR managers later spoke critically about it. They do not confirm that Nintendo itself issued an official response, and they also do not make clear how directly Ellis and Yang’s comments support their conclusion about the internal mood.

Sources

• IGN: “Nintendo Was Reportedly Unhappy With Elon Musk's Saturday Night Live Wario Sketch”
• YouTube: Kit & Krysta, “Open Slideshow”
• Additional context sources on the SNL sketch with Elon Musk as Wario and Grimes as Princess Peach