Scarlett Johansson is the ultimate SNL avenger.
Several months after her husband Colin Jost read a very NSFW joke about her written by longtime colleague Michael Che on their Weekend Update Christmas 2024 joke swap, the couple paid him back on the season 50 finale. But first, an apology.
“You know, before I tell another joke, I want to take this opportunity to apologize to someone I hurt. Scarlett, can you come out here?” Che said during the cowriters’ new Weekend Update joke swap May 17, prompting the actress—who hosted the episode—to join him on his left on the anchor desk.
After joking, “I don’t like this,” he recapped the December incident, which went viral—especially since the Avengers actress was shown reacting in shock while watching it from another room.
“You know, last time we did ‘joke swap,’ I made Colin do some tasteless jokes comparing your vagina to Costco roast beef,” Che continued, before relaying his cowriter’s digs at him. “Well, the fact is, I was just lashing out because I’m jealous. I’ve never even seen a human vagina.”
He later apologized to his costar. “And, Colin, I’m sorry, too, because I owe you everything,” he said. “When Colin discovered me, I was selling crack outside the Bronx Zoo. And now look at me, selling crack outside the American Girl doll store.”
Che then turned sentimental. “I’ve told thousands of jokes on Update and gotten dozens of laughs, but I’ve never said the three most important words of all. I love you.”
Colin responded, “That’s really sweet, buddy. I love you, too.”
Scarlett had recently vowed to pay Che back for his “roast beef” joke about her and Colin.
“I was like, ‘Wow, you really are seventh, eighth-grade boys,” she told Vanity Fair in an interview published May 14, days before the SNL finale.. “I feel like it’s almost my responsibility to come up with some way to burn Michael back. Retaliation, I’d say, should be expected. Others on the show could support this desire. Know what I mean?”
This was not the first time Scarlett and Jost, who have been married since 2020 and share son Cosmo, 3, been the target of jokes on Weekend Update. Read on for more quips about the actress—also mom to daughter Rose, 10—and her husband on the SNL segment.
Christmas Joke Swap 2024
Weekend Update took the sharpest NSFW turn ever on the Dec. 21, 2024 episode (watch the segment here).
“Costco has removed the roast beef sandwich from its menu,” Colin Jost began on Weekend Update, reading the lines Michael Che wrote for him for their joke swap, which they do not see in advance. “But I ain’t trippin’. I’ve been eating roast beef every night since my wife had the kid.”
Scarlett Johansson—who shares son Cosmo, 3, with Jost and is also a mom to daughter Rose, 10, from her previous marriage to Romain Dauriac—was then shown backstage, watching her husband on a TV screen and mouthing the words, “Oh my God!”
The actress’ husband continued, “No, no, I’m just playin’, baby. You know I don’t go downtown.”
SNL Season 50 Finale
Jost and Johansson later paid Che back for the Christmas 2024 joke swap incident on SNL‘s season 50 finale in May 2025. (Watch theWeekend Update segment here.)
“You know, last time we did ‘joke swap,’ I made Colin do some tasteless jokes comparing your vagina to Costco roast beef,” Che told the actress. “Well, the fact is, I was just lashing out because I’m jealous. I’ve never even seen a human vagina.”
Che then turned his attention to his costar. “And, Colin, I’m sorry, too, because I owe you everything,” he said. “When Colin discovered me, I was selling crack outside the Bronx Zoo. And now look at me, selling crack outside the American Girl doll store.”
Christmas Joke Swap 2023: “Little Art Movies”
Colin read a joke from Che that noted how he could finally watch the Black Widow star’s “little art movies” to end the last Weekend Update of the year. (Watch the SNL segment here.)
SNL Season 49 Finale Weekend Update Joke Swap 2025
In March 2024, Che wrote a joke for Jost referencing Johansson’s good looks to relay on the last Weekend Update of the season. (Watch the SNL segment here.)
“ChatGPT has released a new voice assistant feature inspired by Scarlett Johansson’s AI character in Her,” Jost said. “Which I’ve never bothered to watch, because without that body, what’s the point of listening?”
Christmas Joke Swap 2020: Taking It Higher
Che had Jost reference Johansson after reporting some movie casting news. (Watch the segment here.)
“It was announced that Creed singer Scott Stapp will play Frank Sinatra in an upcoming movie,” the actress’ husband said. “But the good news is, Sammy Davis Jr. will be played by Scarlett Johansson.”
