--- title: Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro Reunite on 'SNL' description: Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro reenacted a "Meet the Parents" scene in the "SNL" cold open as Michael Cohen and Robert Mueller. canonical: https://time.com/5240792/ben-stiller-robert-de-niro-meet-the-parents-snl/ author: Alana Abramson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-04-15T14:26:50.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:06:14.517Z og:title: Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro Recreate 'Meet the Parents' Moment in 'SNL' Cold Open og:description: Stiller played Michael Cohen and De Niro played Robert Mueller og:url: https://time.com/5240792/ben-stiller-robert-de-niro-meet-the-parents-snl/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt267eeed6ebc2bcbc/69892dac7cdbacdc14d5c982/deniro.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Saturday Night Live - Season 43 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro Recreate 'Meet the Parents' Moment in 'SNL' Cold Open twitter:description: Stiller played Michael Cohen and De Niro played Robert Mueller twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt267eeed6ebc2bcbc/69892dac7cdbacdc14d5c982/deniro.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro Recreate _Meet the Parents_ Moment in _SNL_ Cold Open  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Apr 15, 2018 2:26 PM UTC  Robert De Niro as Attorney Robert Muller, Ben Stiller as Attorney Michael Cohen during The Cold Open in Studio 8H on Saturday, April 14, 2018 -- (Photo by: Will Heath/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images) Robert De Niro as Attorney Robert Muller, Ben Stiller as Attorney Michael Cohen during The Cold Open in Studio 8H on Saturday, April 14, 2018 -- (Photo by: Will Heath/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)NBC—NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Apr 15, 2018 2:26 PM UTC Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro appeared in this week’s _Saturday Night Live_‘s cold open, where they implicitly recreated their roles from the film _Meet the Parents_ while satirizing the past week’s news that President Donald Trump’s [longtime personal attorney Michael Cohen](http://time.com/5233992/a-disgrace-trump-reacts-to-fbis-raid-on-his-personal-lawyer-michael-cohens-office/) had his home, hotel and office raided by the FBI. Cohen was played by Stiller, who came onstage to join Attorney General Jeff Sessions, played by Kate McKinnon, and Vice President Mike Pence, played by Beck Bennett, for a visit. “Look, we got a real problem here, Jeff,” says Stiller. “I’m Donald Trump’s lawyer. I got a whole hard drive that’s just labeled ‘yikes!'” Stiller-as-Cohen subsequently derides Beck’s Pence for failing to protect the President, who he calls a “fragile flower.” Beck and McKinnon tell Stiller that they requested he visit them because they have someone who wants to meet him. Stiller goes to meet De Niro, who is playing special counsel Robert Mueller and promptly gives Stiller’s Cohen a lie detector test. “I’ll start with some easy ones,” De Niro tells Stiller. “How did you like that pee-pee tape?” The [tape is a reference to part of the unverified dossier](http://people.com/politics/trump-used-wife-melania-ploy-get-fbi-prove-pee-tape-was-lie-james-comey/) from British spy Christopher Steele that claims the Russian government has a tape of Trump watching prostitutes urinate on his bed. De Niro then says he is only joking about that, and they will “get to that later,” before asking if Stiller-as-Cohen made a [$130,000 payment to the porn star Stormy Daniels](http://time.com/5195786/stormy-daniels-hush-money/) — who alleges she had an affair with Trump over a decade ago — in the weeks before the 2016 election, and if the President knew about it. Stiller says he made the payment, but Trump didn’t know about it. “I think you’re lying,” De Niro says. 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