Adam Driver to host ‘SNL’ season 44 opener, Kanye West to perform

Adam Driver will host the upcoming “Saturday Night Live” Season 44 premiere, NBC announced Monday.

The “Star Wars” and “BlacKkKlansman” actor will be joined by musical guest Kanye West. This will be Driver’s second time hosting the long-running sketch series while it will be West’s seventh appearace since 2005.

The announcement comes just as “SNL’s” Michael Che and Colin Jost prepare to host this year’s Emmy Awards. The “Weekend Update” pair, along with Kent Sublette, also recently re-upped their deals to return as co-head writers for Season 44.

“SNL” received 21 Emmy nominations this year, with the show having already won seven of those at the Creative Arts Emmys last weekend. One of those wins went to Tiffany Haddish, who won the award after hosting the show back in November. Dave Chappelle won the same award a year prior for hosting the first post-election episode in 2016.

The Season 44 premiere will air on NBC on Sept. 29 at 11:30 p.m. ET/PT.

“SNL” has seen a significant surge in its ratings for the past two seasons, thanks in no small part to the show’s regular parodying of the Trump White House. Season 43 averaged 9.4 million viewers per episode in the Nielsen Live+7 ratings, making it the most-watched season since 1995. Season 41 averaged 11 million.

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