Saturday Night Live‘s Weekend Update introduced newcomer Kam Patterson and delved into the recent headlines over the summer break, but it was MVP Bowen Yang‘s return on the segment as Dobby the House Elf that stole the show.
The impression, complete with prosthetics and a drab tunic dress, came up after co-anchor Michael Che noted that J.K. Rowling slammed Emma Watson as “ignorant” after she refused to defend the Harry Potter author’s anti-trans views.
“Scared? Why would Dobby be scared, sir? Dobby’s just about to publicly weigh in on trans people, that’s all,” Yang began. “Master sent Dobby to go on the telly and define, once and for all, what a woman is, sir!”
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Che took umbrage with the term “master,” to laughs from the crowd, and moved to clarify if Rowling was Dobby’s master.
Upon affirming that was the case, Yang exclaimed, “Oh, no, Dobby wasn’t supposed to say! Bad Dobby, bad Dobby, bad Dobby,” bashing his head on the desk, which caused his dress to slip off one shoulder.
“Oh, Dobby’s come undone,” Yang said, taking the wardrobe malfunction in stride. As Che played along, the actor added, “I’m sorry! My fatigues are not well-made!”
Continuing the bit, Yang said, “Master Rowling has done so much for Dobby and for inclusion in general. Remember when Dumbledore was gay, after the books came out? And when Hermione was Black, only on Broadway? And when Cho Chang was … hmm … was Cho Chang Asian? Dobby can’t remember if the character Cho Chang was Asian.”
Noting he was “Millennial Cringe” (perhaps a shot at staunch Harry Potter loyalists), Yang as Dobby rushed the audience to start hitting his head against the camera.
When questioned why Dobby opted to self-punish, he responded, “Why? Dobby doesn’t know. Perhaps because house elves are somehow always the problem, even though we’re only 1% of the population, but house elves aren’t the victims. Master Rowling is,” in a thinly veiled reference to the trans community being scapegoated.
After Dobby unveiled a shirt with the inscription “They K. Rowling,” co-anchor Colin Jost chimed in — having read the books (Che quipping, “Of course you have”) — that it meant he was now freed.
Watch the Dobby bit above.
Elsewhere, Jost and Che tackled everything from the government shutdown to AI “actress” Tilly Norwood, but among the loudest cheers and whoops came for New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani.
Watch the first part of Weekend Update here: