Michael Che Claims He Almost Quit ‘SNL’ Over Joke About Salsa
Michael Che is known for pretty off-the-wall comedy moments alongside Colin Jost during their Weekend Update segments on Saturday Night Live, but it turns out one particular crack—about chips and dip, of all things—almost sent him over the edge.
Che recalled the joke during an appearance this week on SNL alums Dana Carvey and David Spade’s podcast Fly on the Wall, when asked if there was any particular punchline that didn’t sit well with him.
“I think jalape?o business... I was pretty furious about that one,” Che said.
“You were just upset that it worked so well,” teased Jost, who joined Che for the interview.
The joke in question stemmed from a 2015 Ohio criminal case which saw a woman charged with stabbing her boyfriend—because he ate a tub of salsa they were meant to share.
According to a 2015 NBC News article, Phyllis Jefferson attacked her boyfriend, Ronnie Buckner, with a pen several times before fleeing his home. Jefferson was later sentenced to 18 months in prison over the incident.
“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 ‘jalape?o business,’” Che said—a play on words on the common saying, “All up in your business.”
(As it aired on the show, Jost recapped the crime and concluded by saying, “You’d be angry too if your boyfriend was jalape?o business.”)
“And I was like, ‘If you tell that joke on air, I’m leaving. I’m quitting the show,’” Che recalled. “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.’”
During the original segment, Che gave viewers insight into why he was not a fan of the joke.
“First of all, I hate you for laughing at that,” he said to the audience. “My joke got pulled after dress rehearsal because they said it was too offensive and way over the line, man!” A decade later, it doesn’t seem like his feelings have changed.
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