Saturday Night Live usually takes on the biggest talkers of the week in its cold open segment, and it was no different on Feb. 13. Not surprisingly, the bit — like the news — was dominated by the Senate’s acquittal of Donald Trump earlier in the day, but pop princess Britney Spears got a mention too.
The segment kicked off with Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight, with Alex Moffat playing the program’s host, and Kate McKinnon as “65-year-old teacher’s pet” Sen. Lindsey Graham.
McKinnon’s smug Graham began by noting that it was a “great day for 30% of America” before slamming the “offensive and absurd” trial in which 57 senators voted to convict Trump of inciting the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. “We all agree the attack on the Capitol was a horrible thing,” the comedian’s Graham said. “Just because the rioters were yelling ‘Fight for Trump’ doesn’t mean they meant Donald Trump. Could’ve been some real Tiffany-heads, maybe even some Eric stans.”
But with the impeachment trial over, the fictional Graham wants to move on to bigger issues, and that’s when he gave Spears a mention. “Now we can move past this and focus on the more serious issues: That’s locking up Hillary” — and here, the senator from South Carolina became emotional before continuing — “freeing beautiful Britney Spears.”
The #FreeBritney movement gained new traction after The New York Times Presents: Framing Britney Spears documentary premiered on FX Feb. 5. The program takes a close look at the singer’s years-long restrictive conservatorship, which was managed by her father, as well as her mental health struggles and more.
Since Framing Britney Spears premiered, there have been more than 1 million tweets about the star as well as the documentary, Twitter shared on Feb. 10. And 220,000 of those tweets included the #FreeBritney hashtag.
Messages of love and support for Spears have also been shared by her fellow musicians, including Courtney Love, Kacey Musgraves, Sam Smith, Shirley Manson, and many others. The documentary and the following outcry over how the star has been treated also prompted an apology from Spears’ ex-boyfriend Justin Timberlake for his behavior after their breakup.
Watch Saturday Night Live‘s cold open below: