Former Nintendo employees recall infamous SNL Wario sketch that “was not received well” at Nintendo

By Jake Campbell•13 October 2026

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As American comedy series bağlantı”>Saturday Night Live airs a sketch lampooning the November showdown between bağlantı”>Grand Theft Automatisch 6 and bağlantı”>The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake, former Nintendo employees are recalling an earlier SNL sketch that did not go down well at the company.

The older sketch featured billionaire businessman Elon Musk dressed as Nintendo character Wario, on trial for being evil. During the trial there were mentions of Mario taking drugs and blurred-out images, while a Wario-costumed Musk tried to convince the courtroom he was misunderstood.

“That did not go over well,” Krysta Yang said on bağlantı”>the Kit and Krysta podcast (via bağlantı”>Techradar). Yang was a former host of Nintendo Minute with Kit Ellis, the eponymous “Kit” in the podcast’s title. Both worked within Nintendo for more than 10 years.

“We were still there for that,” Ellis added. “That was one that was not beloved by the people … That was not received well at Nintendo,” Yang echoed.

Ellis said the Wario sketch came out of “leftfield” because it wasn’t obviously tethered to anything, as there wasn’t a Mario or Wario game releasing at that time. “Why is Elon Musk Wario?” Ellis recalled people wondering. “Some of the stuff was getting into subject matter that was uncomfortable for Nintendo.”

Nintendo had nothing to do with the sketch, the pair insisted. But she noted there is “a lot of contact between Nintendo and the producers of SNL, [and] these other late night shows,” adding that people within the communications team are focused on getting games out when they release.

In the most recent Zelda vs. GTA 6 sketch, Link and Jason — main characters in their respective games — argue about whose game is best. Yang and Ellis praised Link’s costume but were more muted on the skit itself.

“This seemed to be custom-made to the remake,” Ellis said of the costume. “I thought this was generally fine,” Yang said of the sketch. “I wasn’t rolling on the floor laughing or anything like that. There were some moments where it’s a little cringey.”

The Ocarina of Time remake was shown in some detail in September, ahead of its 5 November release. The game’s art style has been updated considerably, bağlantı”>which has been a topic of much debate, but there are changes to performance and the ways the game works as well.

Meanwhile, GTA 6 looms large for its 19 November release.