SNL Addresses Hoda Kotb’s Departure from the Today Show with a Matt Lauer Joke During 50th Season Premiere

Saturday Night Live kicked off season 50 with a bang!

During the late-night comedy sketch series’ premiere on Sept. 28, which was hosted by Jean Smart and saw Jelly Roll perform as the musical guest, the Weekend Update segment addressed one of the biggest moments of the week in its typically tongue-in-cheek fashion.

The Sept. 26 announcement by Today show host Hoda Kotb — that she will be bidding farewell to her anchoring duties after 17 years — got a nod during the part of the show hosted by Colin Jost and Michael Che.

“Hoda Kotb announced that she will be leaving the Today show,” Jost, 42, began.

“Hoda says she will remember her time on the show fondly, and not at all,” he then joked, as a photo of Kotb smiling while holding a glass of wine appeared on the screen behind him.

“Hoda Kotb will be replaced by — oh no! — Matt Lauer-be,” Jost next teased, as an image of Lauer, 66, — who was fired from his role as host on the show in 2017 amid allegations about his behavior — appeared with Kotb’s hair photoshopped on him.

Elsewhere in the show, the cold open saw Vice President Kamala Harris portrayed by Maya Rudolph, while Jim Gaffigan appeared as Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

Andy Samberg stepped into the role of Harris’ husband Doug Emhoff and Dana Carvey appeared as President Joe Biden. Meanwhile, former president Donald Trump was played by James Austin Johnson, and his running mate for the 2024 election, J.D. Vance, was portrayed by his fellow SNL cast member Bowen Yang.

As well as a slew of skits featuring Smart, the season premiere of SNL also featured a cameo from her Hacks costar Hannah Einbender, who, alongside Smart, introduced musical guest Jelly Roll for his first performance of the night: the song “Liar” from his forthcoming album, Beautifully Broken.

SNL announced the cast for its landmark season earlier this month.

Ashley Padilla, Emil Wakim and Jane Wickline have been added to the sketch comedy show’s roster, while Punkie Johnson, Chloe Troast and Molly Kearney have all stepped away. Returning cast members Marcello Hernandez, Michael Longfellow and Devon Walker, meanwhile, were promoted to the main cast after two years each as featured players.

Che and Jost, along with Johnson, Yang, Mikey Day, Andrew Dismukes, Chloe Fineman, Heidi Gardner, Ego Nwodim, Sarah Sherman and Kenan Thompson round out the remainder of the cast.

Other hosts and musical guests announced so far for SNL’s season 50 include Nate Bargatze with Coldplay, Ariana Grande with Stevie Nicks, Michael Keaton with Billie Eilish and John Mulaney with Chappell Roan.