Michael Che Confesses the Colin Jost 'Weekend Update' Joke That Left Him 'So Frustrated'
Michael Che and Colin Jost have been sitting next to each other at the Weekend Update desk for a decade, becoming the longest-running anchors of the iconic Saturday Night Live segment in the show's half-century history. At one point, however, Che says he was on the verge of quitting the show all due to a joke Jost wanted to make on air.
The comedy duo spoke about the incident in a recent interview on the Fly on the Wall with Dana Carvey and David Spade podcast. When asked if there was ever a point where one of them wanted to "kick [their] a--," Che reflected on a joke from the season 40 finale that aired in May 2015.
"Yeah, I think 'jalape?o business.' I was pretty furious about that one," Che said. For his part, Jost fired back, "You were just upset that it worked so well."
It was less than a year into their time together and their first season finale as a pair on the Weekend Update desk. Jost recounted a local news story with a zinger at the end, saying, "Ohio police arrested a woman who allegedly stabbed her boyfriend for eating all of their salsa. Though you’d be angry too if your boyfriend was jalape?o business."
Che tried to stop the cringe-worthy moment before they went live, even threatening to leave the show if he told the joke.
"I remember in run-through when you did it, because I never heard it before. I don’t remember what the setup was, but the punchline was 'jalape?o business,'" Che remembered. "And I was like, ‘If you tell that joke on air, I’m leaving. I’m quitting the show.'"
To Che's surprise, the joke killed. "He did it on air and it destroyed. And I was so frustrated. I was so frustrated. I was like, 'I don’t even know what we do anymore,'" he admitted.
Jost, ever the comedian, remarked that he only did it to get under Che's skin. "I would have honestly cut it if it wasn’t so upsetting to you. And then I was like, ‘I’m definitely, definitely doing this,'" he said.
The landmark 50th season of Saturday Night Live premieres Sept. 28.