Elon Musk's SNL debut was so popular that many viewers couldn't even tune in

Users reported they were unable to watch the highly anticipated episode which the entrepreneur hosted — it was also the first time that the network allowed audiences around the world to view the show along with viewers in the US.

This image released by NBC shows musical guest Miley Cyrus, from left, host Elon Musk, and Cecily Strong during promos in Studio 8H on Thursday, May 6, 2021. (Rosalind O'Connor/NBC via AP) (AP)

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk's debut on NBC's popular Saturday Night Live show was so popular that the network's online stream reportedly went offline for several users due to the heavy load caused by viewers around the world.

Widespread outages that occurred right as the show's episode began according to the Independent, as users reported they were unable to watch the highly anticipated episode hosted by the entrepreneur — it was also the first time that the network allowed audiences around the world to view the show along with viewers in the US. Many users took to Twitter to complain about the downtime.

Elon broke NBC. Literally first time trying to watch #SNL in years and the app on my Xbox, phone, and the actual stream from the NBC website is down.

— Kyle Spinner (@K_Spinz) May 9, 2021

Woof. Great time for the NBC app to go down. #SNL

— Bill Kuchman (@billkuchman) May 9, 2021

@nbc app is down for @nbcsnl so I try my Peacock app. You know what NBC channel isn't on their own premium service? NBC…

— Jason Salinetro (@JasonSalinetro) May 9, 2021

On the episode, Musk introduced himself as the first person with Asperger's syndrome to host an episode of the popular show. Asperger's is known as a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction and nonverbal communication. “At least the first to admit it,” he quipped. He also joked about being “pretty good at running human in emulation mode” while referring to his lack of tone while speaking.

Musk also said on the show that Dogecoin, a popular cryptocurrency created as a parody of Bitcoin, was “the future of currency” and “an unstoppable financial vehicle that's going to take over the world”. He then responded to a show member's question about whether the cryptocurrency was a hustle, saying, “Yeah, it's a hustle.” Dogecoin later plunged 12 percent from Friday, according to Reuters.

This isn't the first time that Musk's actions or words have had this sort of effect. Earlier this year, Musk who has taken a strong position against Facebook, tweeted “Use Signal” after WhatsApp announced it was revising its terms of service to share more user data with Facebook. Barely two hours after his tweet, the app reported that it was struggling to send out SMSes to the surge of new users coming to the platform.