SNL Writer Colin Jost Reveals Scrapped Pete Hegseth Sketch Idea That Later Came True

Comedy often mirrors reality, and that adage has held true in recent years for satirical shows like Saturday Night Live (SNL), which frequently mocks political figures, including those from the Trump administration. According to Colin Jost, the show’s co-anchor of Weekend Update, he and the writing team once scrapped a sketch idea involving Pete Hegseth because it seemed “too ridiculous”—only for the real-life scenario to unfold shortly after.

Jost shared the story during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Thursday, explaining how he became SNL’s go-to impersonator of Hegseth. He also described the creative process behind crafting sketches for the character and revealed that a recent pitch unexpectedly hit the mark—without their knowledge at the time.

“We were pitching ideas for one of the cold opens, like, two months ago,” Jost recalled. “And I was like, ‘Would it be funny if Hegseth just did that Bible verse that they have in Pulp Fiction?’”

For context, the referenced scene from Pulp Fiction features Samuel L. Jackson delivering a slightly misquoted version of the Ezekiel verse. However, Jost noted that the idea was quickly abandoned.

“We talked about it, and we were like, ‘That would be too ridiculous. That would be—and it would take up all this time in the cold open, it would seem like we wouldn’t—’” he explained. “And then he for real did it. Like two weeks later!”

Indeed, just weeks after the discarded pitch, Pete Hegseth, who serves as the U.S. Secretary of Defense, quoted the same Pulp Fiction scene during a speech at the Pentagon.

Jost’s full interview on The Tonight Show is available in the video above.