About midway through the final “Weekend Update” of Saturday Night Live’s 49th season, Michael Che told a joke about King Charles and Meghan Markle that drew loud enough groans from the studio audience that he felt the need to remark, “I thought they’d like that, Colin.”
But that reaction was nothing compared to what followed at the end of the segment when Che and Colin Jost brought back their recurring “joke swap” bit where they each cold-read the most offensive jokes the other could think of for them to say on live television. And while the last time they engaged in this ill-advised pursuit in December, Che invited a (fictional) civil rights icon to sit beside Jost as he told his jokes, this time he welcomed a woman who he claimed was an “actual practicing rabbi.”
With that in mind, Jost kicked off the proceedings by reading this joke about the student walk-out that greeted Jerry Seinfeld’s recent commencement address at Duke University. “I think that’s disgraceful. During these difficult times it’s important to support our Jewish friends. That’s why the only chant you’ll hear from me is ‘Free Weinstein.’’’
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As is typically the case, the jokes that Jost wrote for Che, including one that suggested he was a pedophile, were less outrageous—though one extended run intended to start a beef with Kendrick Lamar was particularly inspired.
Meanwhile, Che once again tried to start a beef between Jost and his wife Scarlett Johansson, getting his co-anchor to weigh in on a new ChatGPT feature inspired by that actress’ performance in the film Her. “Which I’ve never bothered to watch, because without that body what’s the point of listening?” Jost asked.
But the ultimate humiliation for Jost came when he asked the rabbi to hand him a stereotype of a Hasidic Jewish puppet to tell one more joke: “It was reported that Comcast, the owners of NBC, told MSNBC to curb their criticism of Israel. And if they don’t, we’ll hit them with our space lasers.”
“Oh no!” Che said, laughing, as Jost buried his face in his one free hand.
