'SNL' Cold Open has Colin Jost's Hegseth dodging Iran questions

Fired DHS Secretary Noem makes an appearance, too.
 By 
Anna Iovine
 on 
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As confusion and fear rage over the U.S.-Iran war, Saturday Night Live takes the opportunity to inject some levity into it. This week, Weekend Update host Colin Jost returned as Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to give a press conference about the ongoing conflict.

The fratty Hegseth first appeared doing a "hegstand" with "Sprite" (wink wink) before combatively engaging with the media. "We're treating Iran like the breathalyzer in my car and blowing it the hell up," said Jost's Hegseth. He denies that what's happening is a war, instead calling it a "situationship," and makes a "your mom" joke rather than answering whether they'll actually have boots on the ground.

Fired Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem also made an appearance, played by Ashley Padilla, to give a sendoff.

"I just want to make it clear that I didn't get fired," Noem said. "I self-deported."

Topics SNL

anna iovine, a white woman with curly chin-length brown hair, smiles at the camera
Anna Iovine
Associate Editor, Features

Anna Iovine is the associate editor of features at Mashable. Previously, as the sex and relationships reporter, she covered topics ranging from dating apps to pelvic pain. Before Mashable, Anna was a social editor at VICE and freelanced for publications such as Slate and the Columbia Journalism Review. Follow her on Bluesky.


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