Will Ferrell's highly anticipated return as host of Saturday Night Live on May 16 was famously 'hijacked' by two major music stars: Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith and legendary Beatle Paul McCartney. The evening's humorous events kicked off with Chad Smith, widely recognized for his striking resemblance to Ferrell, taking the stage posing as the comedian. This stunt played on a long-running celebrity lookalike gag, which famously culminated in a drum-off organized by Jimmy Fallon more than a decade ago.

Introduced to the audience as Ferrell for the SNL season finale, Smith confidently declared, "I’m thrilled to be back here hosting Saturday Night Live. Thrilled!" He continued the charade, stating, "I was a cast member here for seven years, and now I’m hosting for the sixth time. Amazing! It really feels like coming home." However, his performance was abruptly cut short by the actual host of SNL's Season 51 wrap episode, Will Ferrell himself, who interjected with a bewildered, "Hey! Excuse me! What the hell do you think you’re doing?"

Ferrell then quipped about the musician, telling the audience, "Don’t clap for him. Don’t. He’s a bad guy. God. I’m sorry. That was weird, right?" After the initial surprise, Ferrell decided they needed a "hard reset," acknowledging that Chad Smith had "took the wind out of my sails." Opting to take questions from the audience to regain control, Ferrell unwittingly called upon Paul McCartney, who then proceeded to steal the second half of the monologue.

McCartney, playing along with the lookalike joke, insisted that Will Ferrell was, in fact, Chad Smith. The famed Beatle then joined Ferrell on stage for the final minutes of the monologue slot, basking in applause and reminding the night's host of the extensive list of hit songs he had penned, notably mentioning Ferrell had forgotten to include "Penny Lane." McCartney humorously demanded that Ferrell get behind the drum set. Chad Smith later reappeared in the episode, supporting musical guest McCartney on drums for his performances of "Days We Left Behind," "Band on the Run," and "Coming Up."