Every year, for the year’s final SNL, Weekend Update hosts Michael Che and Colin Jost have a fun little tradition. It’s called “Joke Swap,” and it’s just that: Che forces Jost to read jokes he wrote for him, and vice versa. Che’s jokes for Jost, though, are a little special: They usually involve forcing him to say something racially tinged, to make his humiliation all the more powerful. This year Che upped the ante in more ways than one.
For one thing, he invited on one “Dr. Hattie Davis,” described as a “poet, author, activist.” (Note: There is no information online for Hattie Davis, and Reddit folks have ID’d her as an extra seen in past episodes.) That way any joke Jost is forced to recite would be all the more embarrassing for him. We’ll get back to that in a bit.
For another, towards the end of “Joke Swap 2023,” Che got personal.
“New York state now allows movie theaters to serve alcohol,” Jost was forced to say, “which is how I’m finally able to enjoy my wife’s little art movies.” Of course, Jost’s wife is none other than Scarlett Johansson, and the dig prompted a poster for Black Widow, her final MCU bout, to pop up. (In reality, Jost did avoid watching that one, but for other reasons.)
But wait, there was more: “I’m kidding, honey. I love all of your movies. And if you ask me, you’re an even better black widow than Coretta Scott King.”
That wasn’t the most mortifying joke Jost had to make in front of Dr. Davis. You can judge which one was worse for yourself, but Jost did get in his own digs via one joke he made Che read.
“Last month Beyoncé posted a photo on Instagram of herself in a chrome Versace dress and platinum blonde hair that many people online described as ‘too white,’” Che was forced to read. “In fact, Beyoncé looked so white that I was finally attracted to her.”
You can watch this year’s “Joke Swap” in the video above.
