Saturday Night Live pay its audience members
Saturday Night Live reportedly paid its audience members to attend the first episode of the latest season over the weekend.
According to Deadline, they did this in order to comply with state guidelines.
The guidelines state that live studio audiences are prohibited amid the global pandemic.
However, if the audience is made up of paid employees, cast and crew, then it's okay.
So they essentially treated the crowd as extras on the show.
The state have also set out guidelines for those who decide to create an audience using members of their team.
Only 25 percent of the show's general viewing capacity are allowed attend.
And there's to be no more than 100 people in the audience.
It's important to note NBC complied with all state regulations, as reported by Deadline.
Jonah Bruno from the state’s health department told The New York Times, 'There is no evidence of noncompliance.'
Tickets
Fans of the show obtained tickets through a third-party website called 1iota.
Deadline reports through The Times that audience members were asked to confirm they did not have COVID before attending.
They were also questioned on whether or not they were experiencing symptoms.
And they were encouraged to keep their group limited to a close social circle.
As per Deadline, audience member Sean Ludwig attended the showing, and told The Times that he and his friends were paid $150 each.
Waiting to get into @nbcsnl w/ @chrisrock & @theestallion tonight. Just passed rapid COVID tests and double masked with 25% capacity and socially distanced audience. First time ever at SNL and ready to laugh despite the madness of the world pic.twitter.com/Clhd9tsu5m
— Sean Ludwig (@seanludwig) October 4, 2020
Meanwhile, Macaulay Culkin is encouraging his followers to wear a mask in the best way possible.
Read more here.
