Saturday Night Live: Taylor Swift performs on comedy show for the first time in eight years... but Twitter users accuse pop star of 'lip syncing'

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Taylor Swift returned to Saturday Night Live for her first live TV appearance since the release of her new album Reputation this week.

The pop superstar, who wore a black cut-off sweatshirt with high waisted black shorts, performed Ready For It and Call It What You Want as Tiffany Haddish hosted.

Fans took to Twitter speculating the 27-year-old lip synced with one follower asking: 'Are we supposed to suspend belief and pretend she's singing live?'

Return: Taylor Swift returned to Saturday Night Live for her first live TV appearance since the release of her new album Reputation this week

However, it's well known that executive producer Lorne Michaels banned lip-syncing on the show as it goes against the show's essence of being live.

Relying on a backing track has generally only been allowed during dance breaks. 

But for as many people criticizing Taylor's performance on social media, the star still got plenty of praise.

Victoria's Secret beauty Martha Hunt gushed: 'Can we talk about #TaylorOnSNL Those moves and that high note! I AM HERE for #reputation' 

Swift brought some sparkle to the stage with a crystal encrusted snake microphone as she performed energetically with four female backing singers.

Pop star: The pop superstar, who wore a black cut-off sweatshirt with high waisted black shorts, performed Ready For It and Call It What You Want as Tiffany Haddish hosted

It is the third time that Swift has appeared on the hit late night show after making her debut as a musical guest in January 2009, and returning in November of 2009 as host and musical guest.

During her acoustic version of Call It What You Want, Taylor also wore a shirt with a snake on it.

Snake emojis became the symbol of her feud with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian and the controversy that broke out with his release of Famous from his Life of Pablo album.

Outrage: Fans were outraged that Taylor could be faking a live performance

Reaction: And Twitter erupted in backlash as fans believed the 27-year-old lip synced with one follower asking: 'Are we supposed to suspend belief and pretend she's singing live?'

'Apparently Taylor Swift gets an exception': One Twitter user expressed their feelings on the matter 

Girls Trip star Haddish made history as she became the first female African-American comic to host the famed show.

She took to the stage for her monologue in a stunning white dress and quickly addressed Hollywood’s sexual assault scandal.

‘Listen fellas, listen, if you got your thing-thing out and she got all her clothes on you are in the wrong. Wait ‘till she takes her own clothes off then pull your thing-thing out okay?’

That high note: VS beauty Martha Hunt loved Taylor's performance

Praise: There were plenty of people on Twitter who loved the star's performance 

Sanke: Swift brought some sparkle to the stage with a crystal encrusted snake microphone as she performed energetically with four female backing singers

History: Girls Trip star Haddish made history as she became the first female African-American comic to host the famed show

Stun: She took to the stage for her monologue in a stunning white dress and quickly addressed Hollywood’s sexual assault scandal

Haddish got very personal in her monologue and talked about her tough upbringing in foster homes.

'Before Girls Trip I grew up in foster care and I want to thank anyone who paid taxes between 1990 and 1999 because if you hadn’t paid your taxes I wouldn’t be standing here today, so thank you.

'I lived in a lot of group homes and my favorite show growing up was SNL, that was my favorite show and you have no idea how difficult it is to get a load of black and hispanic kids to watch SNL over In Living Color.

Part: Haddish then took part in a string of sketches on the show

Video game: First she played video game character Boo Boo Jeffries in a Street Fighter-style game, whose attack modes were Rihanna and Beyonce

‘Trying to convince them that Dana Carvey was a funny as Damon Wayans was a problem. I got stabbed twice, in a bunk bed. I still don’t mess with bunk beds to this day.

‘They told me I should talk about things going on in the world today, a hot topic. Here’s the thing I don’t really pay attention to the news, all of my news comes from the beauty shop.

‘When I get my hair done I find out what is going in the world and we have been talking about a lot of stuff.

In a pre-recorded video of screen tests for the Lion King remake the cast played a string of celebrities trying out for the movie

Singer: Celine Dion was impersonated

‘In the beauty shop the other day we were talking about Donald Trump and we were saying "Dang, who is doing his Wigs? His lace fronts are off the chain. His hair is looking so good since he became the president, what sort of glue is he using because when the wind blows it doesn’t move or nothing, that is good hair right there."'

Haddish then mocked Kevin Hart who she said told her she was always wearing the same clothes in her Instagram travel pictures.

Haddish told the audience that she was wearing the same dress on the show that she wore to the premiere of Girls Trip, despite advice from her team to find a new one.

Singers: These included Lin-Manuel Miranda, Nick Offerman, Cardi B and Offset, Kit Harrington, LL Cool J, Oprah, Eminem, John Oliver, Sterling K. Brown and Kristen Schaal, Mary J. Blige, James Corden, and Celine Dion

Oprah: Oprah was impersonated

‘I said to them I don’t give a dang about no taboos, I spent a lot of money on this dress. This dress cost a lot more than my mortgage, this is an Alexander McQueen.

‘This is a $4,000 dress, I am going to wear this dress multiple times, you might see this dress in two sketches tonight and if someone invites me to a bar-mitzvah Im going to wear this Alexander McQueen.’

Haddish then said she might even wear the dress if she gets married again.

‘People always are shocked when I say that. Yes, I am a beautiful woman okay, I might get married two or three times again, I might Elizabeth Taylor this thang.’ 

Punched: Leslie punched Colin

Haddish then took part in a string of sketches on the show.

First she played video game character Boo Boo Jeffries in a Street Fighter-style game, whose attack modes were Rihanna and Beyonce.

During her character profile, she said that her biggest strength ‘was my relationship with my mom, she’s my best friend’ but that her weakness was her fighting ability.

‘My other weakness is I get weird in groups,’ she said as she walked out of the game when she refused to fight.

Friend: During her character profile, she said that her biggest strength ‘was my relationship with my mom, she’s my best friend’ but that her weakness was her fighting ability

Update: In Weekend Update hosts Colin Jost and Michael Che both took shots at President Trump

In a pre-recorded video of screen tests for the Lion King remake the cast played a string of celebrities trying out for the movie.

These included Lin-Manuel Miranda, Nick Offerman, Cardi B and Offset, Kit Harrington, LL Cool J, Oprah, Eminem, John Oliver, Sterling K. Brown and Kristen Schaal, Mary J. Blige, James Corden, and Celine Dion.

Beck Bennett and Kyle Mooney then did a sketch about the break up of their friendship because of Kyle falling in love with Leslie Jones.

The video sketch followed Beck and he tried to break up the couple and win back his friend at a masked ball.

In Weekend Update hosts Colin Jost and Michael Che both took shots at President Trump.

‘Well it’s Veterans Day and Donald Trump celebrated by finally going to Vietnam,’ said Colin Jost who said that Trump and Vladimir Putin had met in their ‘very best Hillary Clinton blouses.’

True: ‘Well it’s Veterans Day and Donald Trump celebrated by finally going to Vietnam,’ said Colin Jost who said that Trump and Vladimir Putin had met in their ‘very best Hillary Clinton blouses.'

Tea: Tiffany dealt a blow

‘Putin denied meddling in the election and Trump said he believed him, but keep in mind that he also believed his wife when she said she was staying behind to visit the zoo. Thats my favorite new excuse for when you don’t want to hang out with someone.,’ cracked Jost.

Che poked fun at Trump responding to Kim Jong-un about his weight on Twitter, but gave him credit for ‘being pretty damn funny.’

‘Look how vain and catty he is,’ laughed Che.

Black unicorn: Haddish then appeared in a sketch playing the ‘last black unicorn’ who can tell the future but only had bad news for a tour guide, telling her that her children had drug problems

Together: The actress was then joined by Leslie Jones who asked her why she was giving the tour guide bad news

Jost then took shots at all Roy Moore and Louis CK.

‘How are we still surprised that someone (Moore) who puts up the Ten Commandments everywhere doesn’t follow them. Whats next? The guy who always jokes about masturbating (Louis CK) wasn’t going about masturbating?’

Claire from NBC HR, played by Cecily Strong, then showed to give them both an update on sexual harassment guidelines.

And when Jost passed the test, Strong told him she would no doubt be back next week.

Star: She was discouraged

‘Im sure Ill be back next week, and the week after that for ever and ever, because this is not just a scandal, it did not just start last week, it is just actual reality for half of the population,’ she said.

And then she looked in shock at a text message on her phone and screamed: ‘George Takei? No!!!’

Tiffany Haddish then interrupted as she walked on in her Alexander McQueen dress.

‘I told y’all I was going to wear this dress again,’ she laughed as she walked behind the hosts.

Scientists: They played dolphin trainers

Secrets: The scientists approached the dolphins

Michael Che then poked fun at OJ Simpson being thrown out of a Las Vegas hotel bar after glasses were thrown.

‘Give him a break, you would drink a lot too if you’re ex-wife was murdered,’ joked Che.

Kenan Thompson, playing NBA star Lonzo Ball’s father LaVar Ball, then joined Michael Che who asked him about LiAngelo’s arrest in China.

‘What does my boy need to do shoplifting for when is about to put out his own million dollar sneaker?’ said LeVar.

Haddish then appeared in a sketch playing the ‘last black unicorn’ who can tell the future but only had bad news for a tour guide, telling her that her children had drug problems.

Singer: It is the third time that Swift has appeared on the hit late night show after making her debut as a musical guest in January 2009, and returning in November of 2009 as host and musical guest

Melody: During her acoustic version of Call It What You Want, Taylor also wore a shirt with a snake on it.

The actress was then joined by Leslie Jones who asked her why she was giving the tour guide bad news.

She then played Instagram butt model Bianca Twerks on a budget TV talk show show called ‘Get Woke with Tamika.’

And she had to tell Tamika, played by Leslie Jones, that the movie Moonlight was not about a group of black people taking trophies from a group of white people.

‘That was the Oscars,’ laughed Haddish.

Snake: Snake emojis became the symbol of her feud with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian and the controversy that broke out with his release of Famous from his Life of Pablo album.

Deal: She will have to deal with the lip sync fallout

The comic then played a cat lover in ‘Whiskers R We’ and things did not go smoothly as the kittens and cats put up a struggle and clawed at her and Kate McKinnon.

And things got frisky as Haddish gave McKinnon a ‘Janet Jackson-style’ shoulder massage and rubbed her breasts.

‘You know thats my chest and you know that I like it,’ laughed McKinnon.

Cats love: The comic then played a cat lover in ‘Whiskers R We’ and things did not go smoothly as the kittens and cats put up a struggle and clawed at her and Kate McKinnon

Lovers:And things got frisky as Haddish gave McKinnon a ‘Janet Jackson-style’ shoulder massage and rubbed her breasts

Haddish grew emotional as she signed off with Taylor Swift stood next to her and took the chance to thank her social worker.

‘Wow what a great night, this was a fantastic evening. To be the first African-American stand-up comedienne to host SNL I am so honored.

‘Thank you Taylor Swift, thank you Larry David, thank you grandma, thank you to my social worker that got me into comedy,’ she said.

Goodbyes: ‘Thank you Taylor swift, thank you Larry David, thank you grandma, thank you to my social worker that got me into comedy,’ she said

Stepping out: Taylor arrived at the SNL after-party following her appearance on the show

Mobbed: The star was surrounded as she made her way into the event on Saturday evening 

Looking good: Taylor caught the eye during her latest appearance in New York City

Busy girl: Her SNL hosting role comes as she promotes new album Reputation