Folks’s Sexiest Man Alive of 2021 is about to be inducted into the vaunted 5-Timers Membership on “Saturday Evening Reside,” however the surging omicron variant of the coronavirus means there received’t be a reside viewers to see it occur.
The long-running sketch comedy present introduced on social media Saturday afternoon that the evening’s episode, that includes “Ant-Man” star Paul Rudd as host, would tape with out a reside viewers and with solely restricted solid and crew “as a result of latest spike within the Omicron variant and out of an abundance of warning.”
British pop star Charli XCX had been scheduled to carry out however introduced Saturday afternoon on Twitter that she wouldn’t be allowed to carry out.
“As a result of restricted crew at tonight’s taping of snl my musical performances will now not be capable to go forward,” she wrote. “I’m devastated and heartbroken.”
She then urged her followers to “take care of yourselves on the market and ensure you get vaccinated in case you haven’t already.”
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Rudd is returning to Studio 8H as host for the fifth time — usually a milestone of a lot fanfare. The Dec. 18 episode was the NBC present’s final introduced episode for the yr.
It’s unclear which solid members will seem on Saturday’s present, which often tapes a gown rehearsal at 8 p.m., adopted by the reside present at 11:30 p.m.
The present returned for its forty seventh yr in September with 16 solid members and 5 featured gamers, a very crowded subject. The scale of the solid has allowed for atypical flexibility for its high-profile members, who can now take day without work for different initiatives in the course of the season.
The present stated on social media that those that had received tickets to the evening’s present would obtain extra info quickly.
That is removed from the primary time the Lorne Michaels-produced present has needed to adapt to the coronavirus pandemic. The virus outbreak halted its forty fifth season for a few month, however “SNL” was again on the air by mid-April with a “quarantine model” of the present hosted by Tom Hanks. The present returned to 30 Rockefeller Heart for its forty sixth season after implementing COVID-19 protocols, however booted singer Morgan Wallen from that season’s second episode for breaking guidelines. And simply final month, an SNL efficiency on set by British singer Ed Sheeran was almost derailed after he examined optimistic for COVID-19.
New York state reported Saturday that almost 22,000 folks had examined optimistic for COVID-19 on Friday — eclipsing the day prior to this’s mark for the best single-day whole for brand new circumstances since testing turned broadly obtainable. Greater than half the optimistic outcomes had been within the metropolis. Omicron is anticipated to develop into the dominant coronavirus variant in lots of nations inside weeks.
Different reside reveals in New York have been devastated anew by the latest coronavirus surge, with many Broadway levels pressured to go darkish due to outbreaks. Mayor Invoice de Blasio this previous week declared omicron “in full pressure” in New York, snuffing out vacation mainstays just like the Rockettes Christmas present and threatening others but — all portending one other vacation season with out a lot cheer.
Related Press author Bobby Caina Calvan contributed to this story.
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