“He was joking around,” Nina Rosenstein, HBO’s EVP of Late Night told Deadline Monday of Maher’s recent comments in an episode of his podcast.

The internet personality tells People magazine that Bowen Yang first reached out to her about Saturday’s “Spotify Wrapped” sketch 48 hours before airtime. She hopped on a plane from San Diego hours later.

Saturday Night Live design coordinator Cassandra Briskman shared a behind-the-scenes look at how the visual gag from this weekend’s “Pirates” sketch came together.