Here's why “Saturday Night Live” honored Tom McCarthy at end of season 50 premiere
The man in the tribute card was a former Biden Secret Service agent who was later involved in an investigation into John Mulaney's "SNL" monologue.
At the end of the Saturday Night Live season 50 premiere, hosted by Jean Smart, a title card appeared on screen honoring Tom McCarthy. Unlike former hosts, musical guests, or show staffers who have received similar treatment after their deaths, McCarthy wasn't a familiar face to most viewers.
Not to be confused with the same-named Oscar-winning director and co-writer of Spotlight , this Tom McCarthy was a former United States Secret Service agent who worked behind the scenes at SNL's parent company, NBCUniversal, until his death on July 10, at age 62. Among his duties at the media company, he once found himself involved in an investigation into a John Mulaney SNL monologue.
McCarthy spent 27 years in the Secret Service. At one point, he was the special agent in charge of the division protecting then-Vice President Joe Biden. McCarthy retired from the federal law enforcement agency in 2013 to take a job at NBCUniversal as the senior vice president and global chief security officer, based in New York City. He held the position for 11 years, until his death.
According to McCarthy's obituary, "He embraced this new challenge following his decades in government, with Super Bowls and the Olympics becoming his new G20s and State of the Unions. He cherished the role and his colleagues at 30 Rockefeller Center and around the world."
In his role as NBC's security head, McCarthy was contacted by his former employer in 2020, with the Secret Service expressing its desire to discuss SNL host Mulaney's monologue from the Feb. 29, 2020 episode with the comedian's legal team, according to records obtained by the Associated Press.
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As the former SNL writer explained on Jimmy Kimmel Live later that same year, he was investigated by the Secret Service over a joke he made during his Leap Day hosting stint that loosely connected the assassination of Roman dictator Julius Caesar and then-President Donald Trump.
"Another thing that happened under Julius Caesar was he was such a powerful maniac that all the senators grabbed knives and they stabbed him to death. That'd be an interesting thing if we brought that back now," Mulaney joked in his SNL bit, before quipping, "I asked my lawyer if I could make that joke and he said, 'Lemme call another lawyer.' And that lawyer said yes."
Mulaney told Kimmel that during the investigation agents asked if he'd posted any "rants or manifestos" about Trump online. He said no, but that he had been making jokes about him publicly for years.
Ultimately, Mulaney was determined not to be a threat to national security and the investigation was closed that December.
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Related: Every Saturday Night Live season 50 host and musical guest
The Emmy-winning Everybody's in L.A. host, who recently welcomed a second child with his wife, Olivia Munn, is set to host SNL for a sixth time on Nov. 2 with musical guest Chappell Roan. Next week, stand-up comic Nate Bargatze is at the helm of Studio 8H, joined by frequent musical guest Coldplay.
SNL airs Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. ET/8:30 p.m. PT on NBC and Peacock.
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