It’s not the holiday season at “Saturday Night Live” until Colin Jost and Michael Che host their bi-annual joke swap.
The joke swap, which is featured during their “Weekend Update” Christmas show and the last show of the season, has the co-anchors write jokes for each other that neither comedian has seen before.
Over the years, it’s become tradition for Che to trick Jost into making controversial and inappropriate jokes about his wife, Scarlett Johansson. However, during this year’s segment, there was a special twist: Johansson was present at Studio 8H to witness the jokes live.
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“I want to dedicate this next joke to my boo, Scarlett Johansson,” Jost began the joke, before the camera shifted from the “Weekend Update” desk to the “Black Widow” star watching the show live backstage with a worried expression on her face.
Jost continued the joke, adding, “Hey boo. Y’all know Scarlett just celebrated her 40th birthday, which means I’m about to get up out of there.”
The camera cut back to Johansson for her live reaction, which appeared to be a combination of confusion and laughter.
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That wasn’t all that Che had prepared for the evening about the couple, either.
His next joke for Jost had the comedian explaining that he was “just playing” and that he and Johansson had just welcomed their first child, son Cosmo, in August 2021.
His explanation for not showing any pictures of their son? He said it was because “he black as hell” before a photoshopped image of Jost and Johansson with a Black child appeared on the screen.
Che’s final joke for Jost was a vulgar innuendo centered around Costco removing the roast beef sandwich from their menu. Johansson had an appropriate reaction to the NSFW joke, audibly saying “Oh my god” as she looked completely shocked.
Jost got Che back throughout the segment, including weighing in on allegations against Jay-Z and Sean “Diddy” Combs.
Che’s jokes about Johansson for Jost date back several years, including a jab at her career just two months after the couple tied the knot in October 2020.
During a December 2020 episode, Jost ended up poking fun at his wife’s past controversy of whitewashing by joking that she would be portraying Sammy Davis Jr. in an upcoming movie.
In May 2024, Jost also had to read a joke about how ChatGPT released a voice assistant feature that was inspired by Johansson’s character in the movie “Her.” However, he claimed that he had never seen the film “because without that body, what’s the point of listening?”
Johansson reacted to the tradition of the joke swap during a July 2024 episode of “The Kelly Clarkson Show” and joked that they both needed to “go into witness protection” after the most recent segment.
“Like, I am absolutely terrified we’re going to be, like, targeted,” she said. “It’s so bad. I black out for that period of the night. I actually don’t remember it.”
She later called the segment “brutal,” before adding, “I feel like every year it gets worse. It’s just terrible. It’s painful…I actually don’t remember that segment.”
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