For the very first time, due to the current health pandemic, Saturday Night Live aired a special At Home edition of the show, which featured the cast performing skits from the comfort of their homes. Amidst all of the laughs, during the “Weekend Update” segment, Michael Che managed to deliver a touching tribute to his grandmother, who recently passed away due to the coronavirus. Of course, he also managed to infuse a good dose of humor into his tribute, as well.
As always (but, with a self-quarantine twist), Che and Colin Jost did their “Weekend Update” during the recent episode of SNL. Towards the end of the segment, Che addressed the fact that being back to work has actually made him feel better amidst the difficult time that he’s been having due to the loss of his grandmother. He specifically noted that he was glad to be able to collaborate with Jost once again. In an effort to brighten his own spirits, Che asked his co-host if he would be open to doing a joke swap (in which the co-hosts read jokes that the other wrote for them) because he said that his grandma was a fan of the bit. While Jost was initially apprehensive (since Che frequently has him deliver slightly offensive jokes), he did agree to do it. To no one’s surprise, the joke that Che asked him to read was a bit offensive in nature and involved a story about a professor using a racial slur at a college.
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After he read the joke, Che let it slip that his grandmother never actually watched SNL but that watching Jost deliver the joke still cheered him up all the same. Che delivered one other tribute to his grandmother at the end of the segment. Instead of signing off with his full name, as the co-hosts usually do, he said, touchingly, “I’m Martha’s grandbaby.” This “Weekend Update” came shortly after Che addressed the fact that his grandmother died from coronavirus complications via an Instagram post.
“Last night my grandmother passed away from the coronavirus,” Che wrote on Instagram (in a post that has since been deleted). “I’m doing OK, considering. I’m obviously very hurt and angry that she had to go through all that pain alone. But I’m also happy she’s not in pain anymore. And I also feel guilty for feeling happy. Basically, the whole gamut of complex feelings everybody else has losing someone very close and special. I’m not unique, but it’s still scary.”
