The Late Jimmy Buffett Saved Colin Jost’s Life After A Gnarly Surfing Accident

There’s no drowning in Margaritaville when the mayor’s on duty.

Island escapism icon and themed restaurant magnate Jimmy Buffett passed away on Friday, missing the barbecues and beach trips of this past Labor Day weekend by mere hours. The “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere” and “Cheeseburger In Paradise” singer was "surrounded by his family, friends, music, and dogs,” according to Buffett’s official website, which further stated that he “lived his life like a song till the very last breath and will be missed beyond measure by so many.”

Among those many are various celebrities who had the honor of smashing some margs with Buffett during his long run as the world’s most beloved beach bum — and, among those celebrities, few are likely more grateful for their encounters with Bubba than Saturday Night Live’s Colin Jost, who owes his own life to the guy in the Hawaiian shirt.

In Jost’s 2020 memoir, titled A Very Punchable Face, the “Weekend Update” co-host recalled a trip he and his then-girlfriend Carmel Lobello took to St. Barts in 2014 where they ran into Buffett and his family. Jost wrote that Buffett told him about how he spends “a few days surfing wherever we open a new Margaritaville,” and that the singer invited him to hit the waves with the Buffett clan the next morning.

Obviously, Jost accepted the invitation just as one would accept a home-cooked meal with Gordon Ramsay or a smoke session with Willie Nelson — however, the SNL star quickly found himself outclassed by his surfing companions. After taking a nasty fall, Jost was “pinned against the rocks by my own leash” as he was buffeted by five-foot waves and was “bleeding because I sliced my foot open.” 

Buffett took notice of Jost’s peril and paddled over to assist, cutting Jost free from the tether with his trusty surfing knife — noted Jost, “how awesome is it that Jimmy Buffett swims with a knife??” Buffett helped Jost back to shore where his foot made a full recovery, but, when Jost tried to find his savior the next day to thank him for his assistance, he found that Buffett had already left the island and “flew himself to Nevis to play golf for the day.”

If this was a “Weekend Update” segment, we’re at the point where Sarah Sherman would hand Jost his ass.