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Saturday Night Live and its fans are well accustomed to shake-ups in casting and approach. In order to stay relevant during its nearly 50 years on the air, the sketch comedy series has had to adjust many times — switching up to fit the era or to respond to current events. Some elements of the show, though, provide a foundational stability upon which the other changes revolve, and the “Weekend Update” segment has been a long-standing tradition. 

Michael Che and Colin Jost on 'Weekend Update'
(L-R) Colin Jost and Michael Che | Will Heath/Getty Images

That’s why it’s somewhat surprising that Michael Che’s announcement he would be stepping away from co-anchor duties for “Weekend Update” didn’t receive more fanfare. 

Michael Che has been ‘Weekend Update’ co-host since 2014

“Weekend Update” on SNL has had a long list of hosts and co-hosts over the years. From Chevy Chase to Norm Macdonald to Tina Fey to Seth Meyers, the often-snarky news desk has been a launching pad for some of the funniest names in Hollywood. 

Michael Che stepped into the role alongside co-host Colin Jost in 2014, and the duo has been at it ever since. They even earned the praise of Norm Macdonald himself who called Jost “very precise” while pointing to Che’s edgier tendency to dive into politically incorrect topics as a kind of balance for the more straight-edged Jost. While that very tendency has landed Che in some hot water over the years, it has also given the co-hosting duo a kind of on-screen chemistry that has made the “Weekend Update” segment a fan favorite. 

Michael Che is leaving ‘Weekend Update’ but not ‘SNL’

You would expect someone who has been in such a popular role for nearly a decade to receive some fanfare when he decided to move on, but Che shocked fans by quietly announcing his departure during a Minneapolis comedy set at a hair salon. As The Huffington Post reports, Che said, “This is my last year.” He followed it up with a quip: “You know my tie is a clip-on, right? What man wears a clip-on tie to work for eight years — that’s embarrassing.”

The casual comment alarmed some fans who feared Che would be departing the sketch comedy series entirely, but he followed up the announcement with clarification that he would be leaving the “Weekend Update” duties but not the show as a whole. As the Star Tribune reports, Che spent the rest of his beauty salon set delivering expletive-filled lines on a range of edgy topics including sex and death: “Did you guys think I was gonna talk about the news? I don’t really do jokes. If I had jokes, I would’ve like, booked a theater. I’m in a beauty shop.”

Who could replace Michael Che?

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Che expressed some frustration at having the big news picked up by the media. HuffPo reports that Che wrote on Instagram, ” … to comedy fans; please stop telling reporters everything you hear at a comedy show, you’re spoiling the trick.” 

Now that the cat is out of the bag, however, fans are speculating about who might replace Che and whether or not this means the end of Colin Jost’s time in the co-host chair as well. Often, SNL has pulled from its existing cast to fill the “Weekend Update” host positions. Current members of the cast include Pete Davidson, Aidy Bryant, Bowen Yang, Ego Nwodim, James Austin Johnson, Chloe Fineman, and Mikey Day. 

At this point, nothing has been announced to suggest Jost is also leaving the role, so if he stays, the pick to replace Che will likely need to be someone edgy to keep the balance. On the other hand, if both are departing for different parts — on SNL or elsewhere — the series could mix up the news desk entirely with a brand-new duo. 

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