During the latest episode of Saturday Night Live, Weekend Update co-host Colin Jost provoked audible groans from the audience and his colleague with a controversial joke concerning the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
A Joke That Missed the Mark
Referencing the recent release of new images from Epstein's private island, Little St. James, by House Democrats, Jost attempted a darkly comedic take. "It's not as nice as I remember," he began, before homing in on one particular detail. "I think definitely the craziest details in these photos was that there was one room with just a dentist chair in it," Jost said. "Which seems very weird but keep in mind a lot of his girlfriends still had braces."
The remark was met with immediate disapproval, with co-anchor Michael Che visibly grimacing off-camera. As the audience groaned, Jost doubled down, quipping, "Oh you think the victims should have crooked teeth." A baffled Che could only respond with a disgusted "What?" before the pair moved on with the segment.
The images in question provide a harrowing glimpse inside Epstein's private lair in the US Virgin Islands, where he allegedly hosted high-profile visitors and trafficked young girls. Beyond the dental suite mentioned by Jost, the photos revealed a library, a steam room, and various other rooms on the island, which was a central location for his sex trafficking crimes.
Satirising the Pentagon's 'Alpha Male'
Jost featured prominently elsewhere in the show, returning to portray Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth in the cold opening sketch. The segment depicted Hegseth as an aggressive, wrestling-style alpha male defending recent US military strikes.
Entering a mock Pentagon briefing to blaring music and a ring announcer, Jost's Hegseth immediately berated reporters. "First things first. Where are the fatties? You, out!" he declared, singling out one journalist.
The sketch tackled several controversies head-on. When questioned about a controversial September 2nd strike in the Caribbean where officials launched a second strike on survivors, Jost's character deflected. "That kind of cruel, heartless act has no place in Operation Kill Everybody. Second. I wasn’t in the room when it happened," he said, before making a joke about being "so jacked up" he had to call his sponsor—a nod to real-world reports accusing Hegseth of binge drinking.
He further mocked the accusations with the line, "Let’s just say: if I had a drink for every Venezuelan we’ve killed, I’d really like that number of drinks."
Trump and 'The Fog of War'
The sketch also took aim at former President Donald Trump, played by James Austin Johnson. Jost's Hegseth praised Trump as a "high-energy alpha" unlike "you beta cucks," only for the camera to pan to a sleeping Trump.
Upon waking, Trump's portrayal offered a rambling defence of Hegseth, leaning on the concept of the "fog of war." "It’s a thing you only say after doing war crime, right?" he mused. "It’s like when you go into the sauna at Equinox and suddenly you’re doing stuff you never did before. Fog of War. We love it. It’s a great new excuse."
He concluded with a typically transactional statement of support, saying, "So I stand by Pete, and nothing can change my mind less. Of course, it could hurt me in any way, in which case, I’ll throw him under one of Mamdani’s free buses," referencing a recent cozy meeting with New York City's mayor-elect.
The episode demonstrated SNL's continued willingness to tackle dark and politically charged subjects, though Jost's Epstein joke served as a stark reminder of the fine line satirists walk when addressing topics involving serious criminality and victim trauma.
