Aziz Ansari Made A Rare TV Appearance On "Saturday Night Live"

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Aziz Ansari was everywhere in the 2010s, but it's fair to say that he's kept somewhat of a low profile during this decade. His only two notable acting appearances were in the third season of Master of None ('memba that show?) back in 2021, and last year's film Good Fortune, which he also wrote and directed.

Aziz also hasn't been on Saturday Night Live since his hosting stint back in 2017...

But, as you can see below, he did walk the red carpet for the show's 50th anniversary bash last year.

Well, last night, Aziz made his return to TV with somewhat of a rare public appearance during SNL's cold open. He was tapped to play embattled FBI head honcho Kash Patel — because what's an SNL cold open these days without ripped-from-the-headlines political references?

Aziz Ansari just appeared as Kash Patel on SNL, and they went innnnn on him

"I'm a trailblazer. I'm the first Indian person to suck at their job. Everyone says Indian people are smart, hardworking, incredibly intelligent. I prove without a shadow of a doubt that we can be just… pic.twitter.com/6MVoJA3HHM
— Spencer Althouse (@SpencerAlthouse) May 3, 2026

@SpencerAlthouse / Via Twitter: @SpencerAlthouse

The appearance took place after SNL cast members Ashley Padilla and Colin Jost did some bits as, respectively, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. (Side note: Do you think these people ever get sick of just doing politics impressions?) As Kash, Aziz went on to declare himself “The first Indian person to suck at their job!”

“Everyone says Indian people are smart, hardworking, incredibly intelligent,” he went on to proclaim. “I prove without a shadow of a doubt that we can be just as incapable and incompetent as the whites.”

After "fielding a question" about Kash Patel possibly getting the boot at Trump's White House, Aziz-as-Kash sniped, “Hell, no! President Trump loves me. Everybody loves me, even the Correspondents’ Dinner shooter said, ‘Kill everyone, but Mr. Patel.’ You get a shoutout like that in a psycho’s manifesto, you must be doing something right.”

Watch the entire cold open below:

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