Colin Jost Reveals Wild Pete Hegseth 'Pulp Fiction' Bible Verse Joke Was 'Rejected' by 'SNL' — Then It Unfolded in Real Life Two Weeks Later
Colin Jost claimed he pitched an idea for an 'SNL' skit before Pete Hegseth did it in real life.
May 18 2026, Updated 12:30 p.m. ET
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was ruthlessly trolled online after reading a fake Bible verse that was taken nearly word-for-word from Pulp Fiction – but according to Saturday Night Live star Colin Jost, he pitched it first!
During a recent appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, the comic, 43, admitted they eventually passed on his idea, only for Hegseth to actually do it in real life weeks later, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
'That Would Be Too Ridiculous'
Colin Jost said he thought his pitch would be 'too ridiculous' for 'SNL.'
"We were talking in the writers room, we were pitching ideas for one of the cold opens like two months ago. And I was like, ‘Would it be funny if Hegseth just did that bible verse that they have in Pulp Fiction," he recalled while speaking with host Jimmy Fallon.
However, as they got deeper into the topic, they decided that it would just be "too ridiculous" and would take up too much "time in the cold open," so they ultimately decided against it.
But to Jost's surprise, his idea wasn't as dead in the water as he thought.
"He for-real did it like two weeks later!" Jost exclaimed. "And I was like, ‘Well, the good news is, I’m being surveilled. So, that’s a relief.'"
CSAR 25:17 Compared
Pete Hegseth recited a modified version of Ezekiel 25:17.
As Radar previously reported, Hegseth's recitation of the jazzed-up Bible verse came on April 15, during a speech at the Pentagon. He said he would be sharing a prayer from Sandy 1, one of the US Air Force Combat Search and Rescue teams.
"They call it CSAR 25:17, which I think is meant to reflect Ezekiel 25:17," Hegseth said.
He began: "The path of the downed aviator is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who in the name of camaraderie and duty shepherds the lost through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children."
The prayer was very similar to a fictionalized Bible passage from 'Pulp Fiction.'
"And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to capture and destroy my brother, and you will know my call sign is Sandy 1 when I lay my vengeance upon thee. Amen," Hegseth concluded.
The actual biblical passage is much shorter and simpler, as it reads: "And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them."
Pentagon Defends Pete Hegseth
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Pete Hegseth faced backlash for the prayer.
Critics online quickly realized that it was nearly identical to Samuel L. Jackson's monologue in Pulp Fiction.
One user on X wrote, "Do these people do a single ounce of research before they speak? What an idiot," and a second person even joked, "This legitimately could be an SNL skit," without knowing that, according to Jost, it almost was!
But Sean Parnell, chief Pentagon spokesman, defended Hegseth the next day on social media
"Secretary Hegseth on Wednesday shared a custom prayer, referenced as the CSAR prayer, used by the brave warfighters of Sandy-1 who led the daylight rescue mission of Dude 44 Alpha out of Iran, which was obviously inspired by dialogue in Pulp Fiction," he penned via X. "However, both the CSAR prayer and the dialogue in Pulp Fiction were reflections of the verse Ezekiel 25:17, as Secretary Hegseth clearly said in his remarks at the prayer service. Anyone saying the Secretary misquoted Ezekiel 25:17 is peddling fake news and ignorant of reality.”
