‘SNL’: ‘Weekend Update’ Anchors Trick Each Other Into Saying ‘Blue Lives Matter’ and ‘Black Superman’ Jokes

Saturday Night Live‘s season finale included an extra helping of a fan-favorite bit: Colin Jost and Michael Che‘s “joke swap.” The “Weekend Update” anchors typically force each other to read unrehearsed jokes live on air once a year around Christmas time. This year, they ended the season with the same concept, and they pulled no punches.

Jost needed a laughing break right off the bat when he saw the first joke Che had written for him. It was accompanied by a photo of an obese monkey in a zoo, and he read: “officials realized the money was overweight when a bunch of Black guys kept hitting on it.” Che did not fair much better, reading: “Las Vegas is opening a pop-up vaccine site in a strip club, and don’t worry, the strippers say the vaccine is a lot like Michael Che: very quick, and you can barely feel it go in.”

As usual, the jokes got less personal and more political as the bit went on. Che forced Jost to incriminate himself with many racist jokes and stereotypes while Jost wrote jokes that would make Che sound insensitive to racial issues as well. One of his lines contained no jokes per se — just a vocal endorsement of the police and their treatment of homeless people in San Diego.

“Yes sir, anything the police do is alright with ole Mikey Che,” he said through chuckles. “I know I’m probably the only Black man brave enough to say this on live TV, but blue lives matter even more!”

SNL had a pretty emotional send-off for Season 46 this weekend, leaving many fans fearful that big changes were coming to the show moving forward. On Sunday morning, many fans were picking the episode apart looking for hints about which cast members might be leaving to pursue other projects. That included some speculation about Jost, though nothing has been confirmed.

In all likelihood, those decisions aren’t technically final yet at all. Casting announcements are typically made closer to the season premiere than the season finale, as contracts need to be renegotiated. However, big stars like Jost, Cecily Strong or Pete Davidson may choose to leave the show no matter what they are offered upon renewal.

The SNL season finale is streaming now on Hulu, with a free trial available here.

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