Michael Che Reveals Colin Jost’s ‘Weekend Update’ Joke That Made Him “Furious”

Michael Che and Colin Jost make plenty of jabs at each other on ‘Weekend Update‘ but one joke went too far.

After 10 years of co-anchoring the Saturday Night Live news show sketch together, Che recalled an early joke from Jost that made him “so frustrated,” he nearly quit the show.

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“Yeah, I think jalapeño business, I was pretty furious about that one,” said Che on the Fly on the Wall podcast, to which Jost quipped, “You were just upset that it worked so well.”

“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 ‘jalapeño business,'” recalled Che. “And I was like, ‘If you tell that joke on air, I’m leaving. I’m quitting the show.’ And 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.'”

Jost added, “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.'”

In the May 2015 Season 40 finale episode, Jost and Che shared their jokes that were cut from a previous episode. “Ohio police arrested a woman who allegedly stabbed her boyfriend for eating all of their salsa,” said Jost. “Though you’d be angry too if your boyfriend was jalapeño business.”

Saturday Night Live returns to NBC for its milestone 50th season on Sept. 28, after Che and Jost co-hosted Peacock‘s first live comedy special New York After Dark on Thursday.

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