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Former Saturday Night Live cast member John Mulaney stole the show this weekend when he returned to host.
One sketch, in particular, received universal praise as Mulaney played the role of Harvey Epstein, a New York City politician who bears an unfortunate name that seemingly combines disgraced sex offenders Harvey Weinstein and Jeffrey Epstein.
Mulaney made a number of hilarious jokes in the skit, including signs that read “Harvey Epstein, Not Related” and jokes about how “Epstein looks out for miners, M-I-N-E-R-S.”
On its own, it’s one of the best skits that SNL has done in years.
But it gets better. Much better.
Because it turns out that Harvey Epstein is a real person and a real New York City politician. Epstein is a state assemblyman who represents the state’s 74th district. His district includes parts of the Lower East Side, East Village, and Midtown East neighborhoods of Manhattan.
I agree with John @mulaney… let’s not call it Epstein’s Island. https://t.co/4B82PyfsnC
— Harvey Epstein (@Harvey4council) November 3, 2024
Saturday Night Live watchers couldn’t believe that Epstein actually exists.
John Mulaney’s SNL Harvey Epstein Character Is Running For City Council
Epstein is a Democrat running for City Council next year in the city’s 2nd district.
On his campaign website, Epstein shared the following message:
“I am running for the City Council because the urgent priorities of our community require trusted leadership and a robust vision for our future. While serving our community in the New York State Assembly has been one of the greatest honors of my life, I believe there is more work to be done, particularly at the local level, where the impact on our daily lives is most direct and immediate.”
To Mulaney’s point, you have to be pretty committed to public service to keep doing it with a name like that. Hopefully, for his sake, people will look past the name and dig into some of his policies. But it doesn’t make the name any less unforutnate.