Fans’ jaws literally dropped, including those of Scarlett Johansson herself, when the co-anchor of Saturday Night Live’s mainstay, Weekend Update, Colin Jost once again managed to find himself in the very uncomfortable receiving end of one cringe-worthy joke targeting his wife, Johansson. It happened this time during a swap of jokes between Colin Jost and his anchor partner, Michael Che-an exchange that surprisingly took on a not-socomfortable turn at this past weekend’s season finale on SNL.
The annual “Joke Swap” segment, a Weekend Update tradition, has Jost and Che writing jokes for one another, often involving edgy or politically incorrect humor neither has seen before the live broadcast. It’s a tradition that allows for genuine surprise, awkwardness, and hilarity. This year’s iteration, though, seemed to take it a step further, with Che setting Jost up to make a highly provocative joke about Johansson.
As Jost read out the joke on live TV, the audience could sense his discomfort. It began with Che’s words: “ChatGPT has released a new voice assistant feature inspired by Scarlett Johansson’s AI character in Her. which I’ve never bothered to watch, because without that body, what’s the point of listening?”
The silence in the studio was palpable as Jost, clearly taken aback, hesitated and muttered, “Oh, God.” The camera panned backstage to Johansson, who looked visibly stunned by her husband’s words. The actress, who has been married to Jost since 2020, reportedly went into shock, as she said later in interviews that she “blacked out” upon hearing the joke. The moment was a stark reminder of the bizarre yet sometimes uncomfortable world of celebrity humor, where the personal and public collide in unexpected ways.
Johansson’s response was incredulous, mixed with forced humor. In a recent appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show, she shared that often Jost’s jokes about her painfully are painful to watch, especially as they get broadcast to the nation. “I feel like every year it gets worse,” Johansson shared of the discomfort in seeing personal jokes about her body and life turn into fodder for national comedy.
While Jost could laugh off the joke—more out of obligation than amusement, it seemed—he was visibly uneasy. Over the years, Jost has made several jokes about his wife on SNL, but this one seemed to cross a line that neither he nor Johansson were fully prepared for. As a veteran comedian, Jost has been an integral part of the SNL ensemble, a core contributor to the sharp-witted humor that characterizes the show. But when personal relationships get pulled into the comedy fray, it’s increasingly difficult to distinguish between humor and discomfort.
The annual joke swap has long been a tradition in SNL’s holiday episodes, and every year, the segment seems to go a little further. This year’s edition saw Jost and Che tackle a lot of subjects, from rappers Kendrick Lamar and Drake’s ongoing feud to various controversial comments about political figures. But it was the personal nature of the joke aimed at Johansson that truly stole the spotlight. In regard to the joke, some felt discomfort and even took their complaints to social media-some even calling Jost out for making such a private subject part of a public comedy routine.
Meanwhile, Johansson is certainly no stranger to this weirdness of being a punchline. She has had enough experience with objectification through her personal and professional struggles. From early on in her career, Johansson has been subject to scrutiny over her looks, a subject that has often found its way into jokes. Her ability to laugh along with Jost’s humor, despite the uncomfortable nature of the jokes, speaks to her resilience. Still, there is a limit to how much one can endure being the target of jokes about their physical appearance and private life.
Jost’s position in the comedy world is a bit precarious: he is not only the host of WeekendUpdate but also a writer and executive producer for SNL, giving him an unusual level of control over the show’s content. But as this most recent joke swap so aptly illustrated, even the head writers are not safe from trickery by their cohosts. Knowing Michael Che to be made of that mischievous humor, he didn’t waste any time in making this segment as wild as possible with Jost’s involvement. What really made that moment compelling was how one could see the discomfort of Jost.
Anyway, the couple seems to be going strong despite the awkwardness. Jost and Johansson, who have a young son named Cosmo, have otherwise kept their personal lives remarkably private amidst the public spectacle of their careers. But Johansson’s candid comments about the joke reveal the wear and tear years of jokes at her expense have taken. While she seems to take it in stride as part of her husband’s job, it’s evident that the discomfort of being the punchline of such jokes is beginning to wear on her.
In a world where celebrity humor often crosses into the realm of personal lives, the line between what’s funny and what’s too much can be incredibly thin. But then Jost’s joke did that: took the uncomfortable truth, which is even our nearest and dearest become punchlines in a very public way, and highlighted it. It’s an excellent reminder of the balance that’s required between comedy and respect, and where exactly the line gets crossed in a joke.
As for the future of “Joke Swap,” it may well continue to evolve and get edgier by the year, as long as SNL keeps up the tradition of pushing boundaries. But for Scarlett Johansson, one wonders if next year’s joke swap might be handled with a little more caution and a lot of laughter-and less “Oh, my God” moments.
In the end, this was one of those SNL episodes that brought back into perspective how comedy can be both funny and cringeworthy at the same time and how no one, literally no one, is safe from a well-timed joke.
