Scarlett Johansson, married to Saturday Night Live’s Colin Jost, recently addressed a shocking joke made during an SNL Weekend Update segment. The joke, written by Jost’s co-anchor Michael Che, left Johansson surprised and uncomfortable.
Jost and Che co-host the Weekend Update segment, and during the show’s end-of-year joke swap, Che wrote a joke for Jost to deliver. The joke, which referenced Johansson’s personal life, went like this: “Costco has removed the roast beef sandwich from its menu. But I ain’t trippin’. I’ve been eating roast beef every night since my wife had the kid.” Johansson and Jost share a 3-year-old son, Cosmo, and she also has a 10-year-old daughter, Rose, from her previous marriage to Romain Dauriac.
As Jost read the joke on air, the audience gasped, and the cameras cut to Johansson backstage. Her reaction was a mix of shock and disbelief. “It was so vulgar,” Johansson told InStyle in an interview released on March 11. “I just can’t believe that they went there. I was like—it was so gross. It was really gross.” She laughed, adding, “And, like, old-school gross.”
The cameras had been set up to capture Johansson’s real-time reaction, creating a dramatic moment. “It took on a full To Catch a Predator-style reveal,” she joked. “It was so intense. All of a sudden, it was like a whole bunch of people holding up lights, and a guy with a video camera.”
Johansson admitted she felt overwhelmed by the moment. “They were waiting for me to react. I felt insane. I was like, ‘I think I’m going to faint.’”
Though SNL producers had informed Johansson about the joke, she didn’t realize it would be about her own body. She described her initial reaction with humor: “My experience of it was so funny. I was like, ‘I mean, it’s a vagina joke, how bad could it be?’ And then as soon as the Costco photo came up, I was like ‘No! No, Michael!’”
Despite the awkwardness, Johansson maintained a lighthearted attitude. She also shared her thoughts on SNL, saying, “The live element of it is really fun. Spontaneous and a little dangerous, too.”
In the same interview, Johansson also opened up about her experiences with motherhood, marriage, and co-hosting the Today show in the InStyle Spring Fashion and Beauty issue.
