‘SNL’ addresses Hoda Kotb’s ‘Today’ departure with Matt Lauer dig

“Saturday Night Live” took a dig at former “Today” host Matt Lauer while addressing Hoda Kotb’s departure from the morning show.

“Hoda Kotb announced that she will be leaving the ‘Today’ show,” Colin Jost said in the “Weekend Update” segment during the comedy series’ Season 50 premiere Saturday.

“Hoda says she will remember her time on the show fondly, and not at all,” he quipped.

“Saturday Night Live” poked fun at Hoda Kotb’s “Today” show exit during its Season 50 premiere on Saturday. NBC / SNL “Hoda Kotb announced that she will be leaving the ‘Today’ show,” Colin Jost said during the “Weekend Update” segment. Saturday Night Live/YouTube

Jost then took a swing at Lauer — who was fired from “Today” in 2017 due to sexual misconduct allegations — by sharing a picture of the former NBC anchor with Kotb’s hair Photoshopped onto his head.

“Hota Kotb will be replaced by — oh no! — Matt Lauer-be,” the comedian joked.

Reps for Lauer, 66, weren’t immediately available to Page Six for comment.

“Hota Kotb will be replaced by — oh no! — Matt Lauer-be,” Jost quipped. NBC / SNL Lauer, seen here in July 2023, was fired from the “Today” show in 2017 amid sexual misconduct allegations. david warren

Lauer faced several allegations of sexual assault when he departed from the show nearly seven years ago.

The TV personality denied the accusations against him, including the allegation in journalist Ronan Farrow’s 2019 book, “Catch and Kill,” that he raped his NBC News colleague Brooke Nevils when they were abroad in Russia for the 2014 Olympics.

“In a new book, it is alleged that an extramarital, but consensual, sexual encounter I have previously admitted having, was in fact an assault,” Lauer said via his lawyer in 2019. “It is categorically false, ignores the facts, and defies common sense.”

At the time, Lauer was married to Annette Roque. The former couple split in 2019 after 21 years of marriage.

Lauer, seen here in December 2023, denied the allegations. Jackson Lee Last week, Kotb announced she would be leaving the “Today” show after 26 years. Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images

Kotb, meanwhile, announced last week that she would be leaving “Today” after 26 years.

“Saying goodbye to something this amazing is hard,” the 60-year-old broadcaster said while tearing up with co-host Jenna Bush Hager during Thursday’s episode.

“It weighed a lot on me. I went back and forth and back and forth, and then I thought to myself, ‘You know, I think this decade, I think I’m going to have to start choosing me,'” the mom of two said, explaining the decision was a long time coming.

Kotb added she wanted to give her two adopted daughters — 7-year-old Haley and 5-year-old Hope — “a bigger piece of [her] time pie” after starting her family “late in life.”

The TV personality said she wanted to spend more time with her daughters. hodakotb/Instagram Kotb will exit the show in January 2025. hodakotb/Instagram

“I feel like we only have a finite amount of time. And so, with all that being said, this is the hardest thing in the world.”

The seasoned journalist adopted Haley and Hope with ex Joel Schiffman in 2017 and 2019, respectively.

Kotb didn’t reveal who would be taking over her seat when she officially leaves the show in January 2025. She will continue to work with NBC in an unspecified role.