NEW YORK (Diya TV) — Indian-American comedian Aziz Ansari will host “Saturday Night Live” on Jan. 21, now in its 42nd season, and will make history in doing so by becoming the first South Asian host since its inception.
The announcement, which was made Tuesday, comes on the heels of an action-packed 2016. The standup comic and actor won his first Emmy award for his Netflix production, “Master of None.” In total, the show received four Emmy nominations.
“Master of None” additionally took home a Critics’ Choice Television Award for Best Comedy Series and a Peabody Award, and received multiple Golden Globe nominations.
More than 90 percent of SNL’s hosts have been white, and only two celebrities of Asian descent have ever played host — Jackie Chan and Lucy Liu, according to IndieWire’s demographic breakdown of all of the show’s hosts. The majority of the show’s non-white hosts have been black, according to IndieWire’s report.
Saturday Night Live has faced heightened scrutiny in recent years over diversity issues. In 2013, the lack of a black female cast member resulted in executive producer Lorne Michaels holding special auditions in search of one. Melissa Villaseñor joined SNL this year, becoming the show’s first Latina cast member. Nasim Pedrad, on SNL between 2009 and 2014, was the show’s first female Middle Eastern cast member.
