Scarlett Johansson was “genuinely so shocked” when she was mentioned during husband Colin Jost and Michael Che’s annual “joke swap” on Saturday Night Live.
“I was, obviously, surprised by everything, but they gave her a heads-up,” Jost, 42, said during his Monday, January 20, appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. “They were like, ‘Hey, would you be OK if Michael made a little, like, kind of vagina joke at some point?’”
Johansson, 40, was “open to it,” according to her husband. However, the joke was far from what either of them expected.
“I didn’t know where it was going and then the graphic came up for Arby’s,” Jost recalled. “Scarlett is backstage, like, ‘Oh, my God, that’s what it is?’”
The “joke swap” between Jost and Che, 41, has become a holiday tradition during SNL’s “Weekend Update” segment. The duo write jokes for each other to read for the first time on air. For the latest installment, Johansson was backstage — and there was a camera on her to capture her reaction when Jost read this particular joke.
“Costco has removed the roast beef sandwich from its menu,” Jost said. “I’ve been eating roast beef every night since my wife had the kid.”
Johansson appeared to be both horrified and shocked when she heard the punchline.
“It was honestly a legitimately live moment,” host Jimmy Fallon — who was also at the SNL Christmas show — told the crowd on Monday. “You weren’t acting at all.”
Jost responded, “I can’t act that well.”
Fallon also wondered whether Jost was “in trouble” with his wife.
“I’m in trouble, I think, with a lot of people,” Jost responded.
Jost and Johansson met at a SNL afterparty in May 2017. One year later, the comedian referred to the former Marvel star as his girlfriend during an SNL live show. They got married in October 2020 and welcomed son Cosmo in August 2021. (Johansson also shares daughter Rose, 10, with ex-husband Romain Dauriac.)
The December 2024 episode of SNL was not the first time Che name-dropped Johansson during a “joke swap.” He previously wrote a joke for Jost that focused on Johansson’s body.
Johansson said she checked out during that episode when seeing her photo on screen.
“I black out for that period of the night,” she said during a July 2024 appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show. “I actually don’t remember it. As soon as the picture came up I just — I fully blacked out.”
