Michael Che on ‘SNL’ Rips NBC Bosses for Firing Black Anchors
The “Weekend Update” co-anchor also mocked Andrew Cuomo and Trump’s AI Gaza video.
NBC
Saturday Night Live star Michael Che took aim at his own network during Saturday’s “Weekend Update” segment.
“This week, MSNBC fired its only non-white primetime host," Che said, referring to last week’s controversial dismissal of Joy Reid.
“And Lester Holt announced he is stepping down as the anchor of NBC Nightly News," Che continued. Showing a picture of himself at the “Update” desk, Che joked, “Well NBC, only one more to go, baby!“
As the first and only Black “Update” anchor on SNL—something he and Bill Murray poked fun at in the recent 50th anniversary special—Che is now one of the few non-white anchors left anywhere at NBC. That’s assuming, of course, that comedy anchors count. MSNBC is to be spun off from NBC next year along with CNBC, the Golf Channel and other cable networks.
Weekend Update with Colin Jost and Michael Che! pic.twitter.com/cnladr3HJM
— Saturday Night Live - SNL (@nbcsnl) March 2, 2025
Earlier in the segment, Che roasted former New York governor Andrew Cuomo for announcing his planned run for mayor of New York City. He joked, “Cuomo plans to use his old campaign slogan of, ‘Honka honka!’”
Che also ripped into a recent video President Donald Trump posted, which used AI to depict a version of Gaza that’s been transformed into a Trump resort.
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Che noted that the video included “a Trump Hotel, bearded belly dancers, and Benjamin Netanyahu lounging on a beach.” He added, “The video was titled: ‘ISIS Recruitment Ad.’”
Meanwhile, co-anchor Colin Jost set his sights on the recent Oval Office shouting match between Volodymyr Zelensky, Donald Trump, and JD Vance.
“Let’s see how it went,” Jost said, before playing a quick clip of Trump yelling at Zelensky for not surrendering to Russia. Jost sarcastically summed the meeting up as, “Pretty good.”
Jost added, “Zelensky was asked to leave the White House, then he appeared on Fox News and said he thinks he can still salvage his relationship with President Trump. Which is like Justin Baldoni saying, ‘I’d love to work with Blake [Lively] again!’"
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