Dakota Johnson Hosts SNL, Stars in Controversial ISIS Skit and Chats With Her Famous Parents—Watch Videos

The Fifty Shades of Grey made her debut on Saturday Night Live on Feb. 28, a little more than 26 years after mom Melanie Griffith

By Corinne Heller Mar 01, 2015 5:18 PMTags
Dakota Johnson, SNLNBC

Dakota Johnson's debut on Saturday Night Live contained no nudity, but it did involve some controversy.

The 25-year-old actress hosted the sketch comedy series on Saturday, a week after the release of the hit R-rated sexy film Fifty Shades of Grey, in which she plays Anastasia Steele. During her SNL monologue, she chatted with her parents, actress Melanie Griffith and actor Don Johnson, and was later seen in several skits, including a parody video poking fun at the terrorist group ISIS, which sparked mixed reactions online.

In addition, rock group Alabama Shakes performed two songs, "Gimme All Your Love" and "Don't Wanna Fight."

Check out five highlights from the show.

1. Dakota's monologue

Dakota's SNL debut comes a little more than 26 years after her mother's, who first hosted the show in December 1988. In her monologue, Dakota, who was born in October 1989, said Don proposed to Griffith after her debut and noted, with some innuendo, that she was conceived about nine months later.

Her parents were married twice; They were married for six months in 1976, divorced, then remarried in 1989 and divorced in 1996. At SNL, they sat next to each other in the audience and spoke to their daughter onstage.

"We were just afraid you were going to be naked," Don joked.

2. Dakota joins ISIS?!

In a pre-taped video, the actress plays a young woman who bids farewell to her emotional father...and joins the terrorist group. In recent months, there has been a surge in the number of female jihadis from Western countries, including the United States, who have traveled to the Middle East to join ISIS, also called Islamic State.

Many viewers were shocked and offended by the segment, while others found it funny.

3. Sara Bareilles' "Brave" meets Liar Liar

The performers tell each other what they're really thinking ("Say what you wanna say...") Dakota admits to someone she wasn't listening to something they said a second ago and Kate McKinnon absolutely nails the thoughts every self-conscious woman has when she needs to use a public restroom for the main purpose of its existence while another woman uses it to stare at herself in the mirror.

4. Whiny, uptalking interns

Dakota, Aidy Bryant, Cecily Strong and Bobby Moynihan play three interns who whine and uptalk amongst themselves while making generous use of popular slang words and phrases, namely "literally" and "can't even," while exaggerating every detail. Literally every one.

5. Leonard Nimoy tribute

The Star Trek actor, who died at age 83 on Friday, got a shout-out in a skit that starred Dakota as a nurse and Kenan Thompson as an ER doctor dressed as the Lt. Worf from Star Trek: The Next Generation (and in full-on cosplay), made to look like a promo for the fictional series Worf, M.D.

At the end of the sketch, Thompson's character, who is a Klingon, gives the Vulcan salute, made famous by Nimoy's character Spock (and in reality, by the actor himself). The late star is also shown in a still image.

 

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