Jason Momoa raps about viral ‘Roman Empire’ TikTok trend in ‘SNL’ sketch

By Alli Rosenbloom, CNN

(CNN) — Jason Momoa personified the viral “Roman Empire” social media trend in a sketch featured on a recent episode of “Saturday Night Live.”

For those unfamiliar, the “Roman Empire” trend originated on TikTok in September with videos of women asking their husbands or boyfriends how often they thought about the legendary empire. With a surprising number of them claiming to think about it daily to multiple times a week, the videos quickly went viral.

On Saturday, the show took on the trend in a music video sketch, which began with “SNL” cast members Ego Nwodim, Punky Johnson and Chloe Troast solemnly singing about how concerned they are for their husbands, who are often aloof and off in thought.

“Wacha thinkin’ about, baby?” Nwodim asks Momoa, who, playing her husband in the sketch, is seen sitting on the edge of their bed staring off into nothingness.

“The Roman Empire, ancient Rome. Five times a day it pops into my dome,” he raps, after suddenly appearing in a gladiator costume on a Roman coliseum-looking set accompanied by backup dancers.

Nwodim is so fed up with her Rome-obsessed husband by the end of the sketch she slaps Momoa across the face.

In a nod to what the writers of “SNL” have hilariously presented as what a woman’s “Roman Empire” is, Nwodim tells Momoa he should be “thinking about things that matter today” – like astrology, she says, because the position of the stars “determines who we are.”

Momoa hosted “SNL” on Saturday for the second time. Tate McCrae appeared as the episode’s musical guest in her “SNL” debut.

Oscar-winner Emma Stone is set to host this week’s upcoming episode, with Noah Kahan as the musical guest.

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