Colin Jost gives foot update after injury and Olympics correspondent exit

Contrary to popular belief, Colin Jost's foot has not fallen off.

The co-host of "Weekend Update" on "Saturday Night Live" shared a tongue-in-cheek video to his Instagram on Sunday after he abruptly exited his cushy gig as an NBC correspondent covering the 2024 Olympics surfing events in Tahiti. The comedian suffered a cut on his foot on a coral reef that became deeply infected, and he left the island in French Polynesia before the surfing events were complete.

In a video recording in Malta, Jost assured his fans that he is fine, even though he kept his injured foot safely out of view in a sneaker.

“‘Dude, are you OK?’ That’s the No. 1 text message I’ve received in the past 48 hours. Usually followed by, ‘Heard your foot fell off,'” Jost, 42, said in the video, wearing a blazer and shorts and holding his correspondent's microphone.

“Well, I’m actually fine, and despite what big media conspiracies would have you believe, I wasn’t ‘sent home’ from the Olympics," he said. "NBC simply looked at my foot, declared me legally a leper, and exiled me here, to the island of Malta."

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Jost said that while Malta doesn’t have "many Olympians competing this year," it does have a casino where he has blown "the hundreds of dollars I’ve earned as a surfing correspondent."

"But the real reason I’m in Malta of course is because it was the site of 10 separate bubonic plague outbreaks," he joked, "so they thought I would fit right in."

Jost left Tahiti and was replaced by Australian weatherman Luke Bradnam as the surfing competition wrapped up. In a statement to USA TODAY, NBC said Jost's exit came after an extended stay.

"Colin stayed longer than originally planned," said NBC. "The competition ran long due to weather. He had a great time, and everyone was thrilled with his coverage from Tahiti."

The "SNL" star and husband to Scarlett Johansson shared photos on Instagram of his foot injury, which he sustained on a coral reef during his stint covering the Olympics. The injury soon resulted in a staph infection.

"I've been visiting the medical tent regularly. It's a weird feeling when you're in the medical tent way more than any of the athletes," he later told NBC Sports.

"The medical staff at this point, they know my name, they're very familiar with my badge ID number, they know I'm allergic to penicillin," he continued. "They started saying, 'We need to see you every day.' At first, I was like, 'Oh, my God, guys, I like you, too.' And they were like, 'No, it's because the infection hasn't improved."

Jost wrapped up his "foot update" video by thanking Tahitians for their hospitality and also for "only occasionally looking at my foot and whispering 'Chupacabra!'"

The comedian may be injured, but he has a busy schedule ahead, with "SNL" returning in the fall and his new job as the host of "Jeopardy!" spin-off "Pop Culture Jeopardy!", which will air on Amazon Prime Video.

The collaboration with Sony Pictures Television, which produces the original game show, will appear exclusively on Amazon and "give a new twist on the classic quiz show's "answer-and-question" format combining the "academic rigor of 'Jeopardy!' with the excitement and unpredictability of pop culture," Amazon previously shared in a statement.

Contributing: Taijuan Moorman and Bryan Alexander