Did Colin Jost Accidentally Predict Pete Hegseth's Pulp Fiction Moment?

Sometimes life imitates comedy in the most delightfully awkward ways. Colin Jost, the 43-year-old Saturday Night Live star who’s spent the entire 2025-2026 season impersonating Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, just revealed something that feels less like a coincidence and more like he’s tapped into a cosmic frequency nobody knew existed.

During his May 14 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Jost spilled the tea: roughly two months prior, the SNL writers room was brainstorming cold open sketches when he casually pitched an idea. What if Hegseth just randomly recited the fake Bible verse from Pulp Fiction—you know, the iconic Samuel L. Jackson monologue that’s been a cult classic moment for three decades? The room discussed it, but ultimately shelved the concept. Too ridiculous, they figured. Too absurd to ever happen in real life.

Then reality crashed the party.

Last month, Hegseth showed up at a Faith in Military event at the Pentagon and did exactly what Jost had pitched. He recited—with full sincerity—a modified version of the Pulp Fiction speech, calling it the CSAR 25:17 prayer. The speech borrowed heavily from Tarantino’s fictional take on Ezekiel 25:17, complete with references to Sandy 1 (a call sign, apparently) and the whole theatrical vengeance-laden bit that made Jackson’s Jules such an unforgettable character. The internet noticed immediately. People were bewildered, amused, and confused in equal measure.

Jost’s reaction?“And then, he for-real did it…like two weeks later! And I was like,‘Well, the good news is, I’m being surveilled.'”It’s the kind of punch line that lands harder because it’s rooted in something genuinely bizarre.

The Pentagon later issued a statement from Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell claiming the whole thing was intentional—that the prayer was a custom creation inspired by Pulp Fiction dialogue, reflecting actual military culture and tradition. Whether you buy that explanation or not, one thing’s clear: Jost accidentally manifested the weirdest timeline, and SNL got the last laugh without even trying.