Paul Rudd hosts ‘SNL’ sans audience, Charli XCX amid omicron
Associated PressNEW YORK — People’s Sexiest Man Alive of 2021 was indeed inducted into the vaunted Five-Timers Club on “Saturday Night Live,” but the surging omicron variant of the coronavirus meant there was no live audience to see it happen. The long-running sketch comedy show announced on social media Saturday afternoon that the night’s episode, featuring “Ant-Man” star Paul Rudd as host, would tape without a live audience and with only limited cast and crew “due to the recent spike in the Omicron variant and out of an abundance of caution.” By the time 11:30 p.m. Eastern time rolled around, the entire cast — save for Kenan Thompson — and most of the crew had been sent home, too, Tom Hanks told viewers. New York state reported Saturday that nearly 22,000 people had tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday — eclipsing the previous day’s mark for the highest single-day total for new cases since testing became widely available. Mayor Bill de Blasio this past week declared omicron “in full force” in New York, snuffing out holiday mainstays like the Rockettes Christmas show and threatening others yet — all portending another holiday season without much cheer.
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