Michael Che says Colin Jost joke on Saturday Night Live almost made him quit his job

Che threatened to quit the show if the joke was included

Saturday Night Live star Michael Che has revealed that his comedic partner Colin Jost left him “furious” with a particularly terrible joke.

The duo appear on SNL as part of the Weekend Update segment, and have since spread their wings with their own TV show: Colin Jost & Michael Che Present: New York After Dark, which premiered on Peacock last week.

In an interview on the Fly on the Wall with Dana Carvey and Dave Spade podcast, the comedians were asked if they’d ever performed a joke that made the other think, “If you ever do that again I’m going to kick your ass.”

Che had an immediate response to the question.

“Yeah, I think jalapeño business, I was pretty furious about that one,” he said, to which Jost quipped, “You were just upset that it worked so well.”

The segment in question covered a story about Ohio police arresting a woman who allegedly stabbed her boyfriend for eating all of their salsa.

At the time Jost ended the news story with, “Though you’d be angry too if your boyfriend was jalapeño business.”

Che recalled, “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 ‘jalapeño business’.

Che was left unimpressed with the quip (NBC/Saturday Night Live)

“And I was like, ‘If you tell that joke on air, I’m leaving. I’m quitting the show.’ 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.’”

Jost added, “I would have honestly cut it if it wasn’t so upsetting to you. And then I was like, ‘I’m definitely, definitely doing this.’”

The pair roasted Donald Trump’s remarks about immigrants eating cats and dogs in their first-ever live comedy special.

In a claim that was swiftly debunked by ABC News moderator David Muir, Trump said: “In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs.

“The people that came in. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating – they’re eating the pets of the people that live there. And this is what’s happening in our country, and it’s a shame.”

In the opening monologue, Jost joked that they wanted the live special to be “to be the second-funniest live event this week… after the debate. I don’t know about you guys, but I thought my guy did great.”

The comedians went on to mock the claims in the special, with Jost saying: “I actually do have to thank our first sponsor, ‘Cats & Dogs: A dog meat for migrants.’”