Having served as the co-anchors of Saturday Night Live’s "Weekend Update" for more than 10 seasons now, Colin Jost and Michael Che are incredibly comfortable with each other. They have such rapport, in fact, that they’ve established a “joke swap” tradition. During it, the two write quips for each and, without having seen them beforehand, perform them on air. The pair continued this trend for the show’s Season 49 finale, and it was a doozy. What really stood out amongst the pack of insane barbs, however, was a brutal shot that Jost was tricked into making at the expense of his wife, Scarlett Johansson.
It’s a relatively well-known fact, at this point, that Colin Jost and Scarlett Johansson are married, as they tied the knot in 2020 several years after meeting at SNL. Since then, their union has come up a few times - mostly when jokes are made. Michael Che seems to take particular pleasure in poking fun at his buddy and his wife and, on this week’s show, he did that in a big way. During the episode (on which Jake Gyllenhaal was the latest Season 49 host), Jost was hoodwinked into making a hilarious crack about his wife, which cleverly referenced one of her most notable films. Here’s what Jost was forced to say during the show:
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?
Ouch! The Top Five alum definitely came up with a sharp barb for his co-anchor to say. It’s one of those classic jokes that makes you want to laugh but also equally cringe. But, of course, that’s the main aim of the joke swap, and there were plenty of other wisecracks this time around that drew some strong reactions from the audience. Among them were a reference to disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein, a shot at the Catholic church and a hilarious reference to the rap beef between Kendrick Lamar and Drake. On top of all that, there was even a Jewish rabbi present. For context, check out the entire segment for yourself:
This was a wild slate of unsuitable jokes, and that’s saying a lot, given what the two stars have written for each other in the past. Just last Christmas, Michael Che and Colin Jost wrote inappropriate jokes for each other about former U.S. President Barack Obama, late pop icon Michael Jackson and more. There was also a Scarlett Johansson joke thrown in then, and that’s not the only one Che has written for his pal to say. During the 2020 holiday season, Jost had to read a Johansson joke that was linked to her highly panned casting in the feature film adaptation of Ghost in the Shell. Jost recently admitted that he finds these joke swaps “both terrifying and exhilarating,” and it’s not hard to see why.
Despite these hilariously messed up gags, everyone involved seems to take them in stride. The celebrity couple at the center of many of these insults certainly doesn’t seem to be negatively affected by them. Having both had their share of performances on SNL, both the Black Widow alum and her comedian husband can take it as well as they can dish it out. All in all, the Mr. Jost and Mrs. Johansson remain couple goals.
I do still wonder how Colin Jost and Scarlett Johansson’s first conversation after the show went down, though. One could easily imagine that being a funny chat and, chances are, that’s exactly what Michael Che was hoping for.
Saturday Night Live Season 49 is officially done, and the 50th anniversary season is set to kick off this fall on NBC as part of the 2024 TV schedule. It’s sure to be a biggie that’s filled with more laughs and wild joke swaps. In the meantime, stream past episodes using a Peacock subscription.
