Michael Che Jokes on 'SNL' About Being NBC's Last Black News Anchor

The 'Weekend Update' co-anchor joked about being the last nonwhite primetime anchor at the network after Joy Reid's firing and Lester Holt's exit.

March 2, 2025

Saturday Night Live’s Michael Che reacted to Joy Reid’s firing by joking that he might be next on the chopping block.

Reid, the 56-year-old political commentator and host of The ReidOut, was fired last week as part of MSNBC’s programming restructure, according to NPR.

On the latest “Weekend Update” segment, Che jokingly took aim at his own network, NBC, by referencing MSNBC’s recent firing of Reid.

“This week, MSNBC fired its only nonwhite primetime host, and Lester Holt announced he is stepping down as the anchor of NBC Nightly News,” Che said at the 3:48 mark in the video above.

“Well, NBC, only one more to go, baby,” he added, as a photo of himself appeared as an over-the-shoulder graphic.

Reid’s final show aired on Monday, and rotating anchors will temporarily fill her slot. The move sparked backlash, with Rachel Maddow calling the decision “indefensible” and pointing out that MSNBC’s nonwhite primetime hosts, Reid and Katie Phang, have lost their shows.

"I think it is a bad mistake to let her walk out the door," said Maddow, 51, per NPR. "It is also unnerving to see that on a network where we've got two nonwhite hosts in primetime, both of our nonwhite hosts in primetime are losing their shows, as is Katie Phang on the weekend."

Reid thanked her supporters and friends in a new message to her Bluesky account last Monday, writing, "I just want to say thank you to everyone who has reached out with kindness and encouragement, both personally and in these social media streets. So very proud of The Reidout @joy.msnbc.com team, who are truly family, and all of our supporters & friends.”

Last night’s SNL episode also touched on recent hot-button topics, including Andrew Cuomo’s newly-announced mayoral run and the bizarre AI-generated video posted by President Donald Trump depicting a Trump resort on the Gaza Strip, joking that it looked like an “ISIS Recruitment Ad.”

Co-anchor Colin Jost referenced the tumultuous meeting between Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday that was intended to explore a path for an end to the war with Russia.

The meeting was also referenced in SNL’s cold open featuring Mike Myers, James Austin Johnson, Bowen Yang, Marcello Hernández, and Mikey Day portraying Elon Musk, Trump, Vance, Marco Rubio, and Zelenskyy, respectively.