Here's who Colin Jost was referencing in his sign to 'Ken' at end of SNL premiere
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Saturday Night Live's 47th season started with excitement as Owen Wilson and Kacey Musgraves took on hosting and musical guest duties, but ended with a bit of a mystery.
One of the most talked-about moments of the show on social media wasn't Wilson's Cars 4 sketch or Pete Davidson's Weekend Update tribute to Norm Macdonald. It was when Colin Jost held up a sign at the end of the show that read, "We'll miss you, Ken." Fans quickly flocked to social media to try to figure out who the mysterious Ken was and why Jost would miss him, but it wasn't immediately clear.
SNL/Twitter Colin Jost holds a sign for 'Ken' during 'SNL' goodnights
So, who is Ken, and why did it warrant a shout-out from one of SNL's head writers? EW has confirmed that Jost was referencing Ken Aymong, a longtime supervising producer who retired after last season.
Aymong joined the show in the '80s as an associate producer and quickly worked his way up the ranks. His work at SNL included the weekly live shows, as well as pretty much all of the holiday, anniversary, best of, and election specials throughout the years. Additionally, Aymong helped supervise two of 30 Rock's live shows in 2010 and 2012.
Aymong's long tenure with the show meant that he worked with almost everyone who walked through the doors of Studio 8H over the last several decades — which is pretty impressive. In addition to Jost, another former head writer and Weekend Update anchor, Seth Meyers, has also shared stories of working closely with Aymong over the years, as has another former producer of the NBC sketch comedy show, Mike Shoemaker, who has referred to Aymong as his "SNL mentor."
forgot to attach pic of Ken Aymong. #SNLmentor #unsunghero pic.twitter.com/uQowwRpsIq
— Mike Shoemaker (@shoemakermike) February 17, 2015
A 23-time Emmy Award nominee, Aymong took home his seventh statue last month when SNL won Outstanding Variety Sketch Series for season 46.
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