Saturday Night Live cast member Colin Jost revealed that the show’s writers rejected his “ridiculous” pitch for a skit in which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth read the fake Bible quote from Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 movie Pulp Fiction – just two weeks before it actually happened in real life in April.

Jost sat down with Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show on Thursday when the host praised him for “crushing it” in his cold open impressions of Hegseth.

The SNL star said he had been worried about being recast when he fell into the role, before telling the story of one Hegseth skit that didn’t make it to air.

“We were pitching, we were talking in the writers’ room, we were pitching ideas for one of the cold opens, like, two months ago,” he said. “And I was like, ‘Would it be funny if Hegseth just did that Bible verse that they have in Pulp Fiction?’ Remember, they’re like, from Ezekiel –”

“Samuel L. Jackson, 12:17,” Fallon acknowledged.

Jost continued: “Yeah, we talked about it, and we were like, ‘That would be too ridiculous.’ And it would take up all this time in the cold open. It would seem like we wouldn’t –”

“And then he for real did it!” the guest cracked. “Like two weeks later!”

The moment Hegseth “for real did it” drew widespread attention on April 16 after he delivered what he described as a combat prayer during a Pentagon service honoring a rescue mission in Iran.

Introducing the passage as “CSAR 25:17”, a riff on the biblical verse Ezekiel 25:17, the defense secretary asked the audience to “pray with me please” before reciting a dramatic monologue about vengeance, brotherhood, and “the tyranny of evil men.”

But some of those watching quickly noticed the passage was not actually scripture. Much of the wording closely mirrored the famous speech delivered by Jackson’s character Jules Winnfield in Pulp Fiction before he carries out a killing.

The passage spoken by Jackson’s character was itself a fictionalized version of the Bible verse, as noted by A Public Witness, a religion-themed Substack.

Hegseth adapted the quote for military rescue crews, replacing references to “the righteous man” with “the downed aviator” and ending with the line: “you will know my call sign is Sandy 1 when I lay my vengeance upon thee.”

The bizarre mash-up of Hollywood dialogue and Pentagon prayer service quickly ricocheted across social media and late-night television, with critics questioning how a fake movie Bible verse ended up being solemnly recited by the sitting secretary of defense.

Watch above via NBC.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!