When Betty White speaks, the Internet listens. And when America's Sweetheart kisses "American Sniper" star Bradley Cooper on "Saturday Night Live's" 40th anniversary special, the Internet swoons.
In the return of the soap opera-inspired sketch "The Californians" — which also featured cameos by Taylor Swift and Kerry Washington — White, 93, locked lips with Cooper, who just turned 40 last month. As is the case with any soap, an elaborate story was involved: White's character Lana met a hot-air balloon operator who "took good care of me, if you know what I mean," only for Cooper's balloon-operating "Greg or Craig" to re-emerge.
"It's been a long time, Lana," Greg/Craig said, before Cooper crouched to kiss White to the delight of the studio audience and millions of viewers.
As expected, Twitter erupted, too.
Breaking up the love-fest was David Spade's "buh-bye" character, who ushered stars off the "Californians" set with the help of current "SNL" cast member Cecily Strong. Referencing Cooper's Academy Award-nominated turn in "American Sniper," Spade joked, "Bang bang, bang bang, buh-bye."
Even before the show started, White fired up fans on social media, smiling on the red carpet for TODAY's selfie stick for a pic that had collected more than 17,000 likes as of Monday morning.
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