Months after Saturday Night Live’s Christmas episode aired, Scarlett Johansson is still being asked about her now-famous reaction to a joke made at her expense. 

The actress, who has been the subject of playful jabs on Weekend Update due to her marriage to Colin Jost, 

admitted that while she found the joke shocking, she ultimately took it in stride.

The Joke That Went Viral

During SNL’s annual Christmas “joke swap” segment, Weekend Update co-hosts Colin Jost and Michael Che exchange jokes written for each other

ones they haven’t seen beforehand, making for unpredictable and often uncomfortable moments. 

This past December, Jost was forced to deliver a particularly suggestive joke about Johansson.

“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.”

As the audience erupted in laughter, the camera cut to Johansson, who was watching backstage. Her jaw dropped in what became one of the most talked-about moments of the night. It turns out, she had no idea she was going to be filmed.

“The fact that it took on a full To Catch a Predator-style reveal or whatever, that was so intense,” Johansson said in a new interview. “All of a sudden, it was like a whole bunch of people holding up lights, and a guy with a video camera. They were waiting for me to react. I felt insane. I was like, I think I’m going to faint.”

Johansson’s Take on the Joke

While her stunned expression made headlines, Johansson insists she wasn’t actually offended by the joke.

“It was so vulgar,” she admitted. “I just can’t believe that they went there. I was like—it was so gross. It was really gross. And, like, old-school gross.”

That said, she had been warned in advance by SNL producers about what was coming.

“I was like, I mean, it’s a vagina joke, how bad could it be?” Johansson recalled. “And then as soon as the Costco photo came up, I was like, ‘No! No, Michael!’”

Despite the initial shock, she and Jost found humor in the situation. After the show wrapped, the couple returned home and laughed about it together.

“I was like, ‘My nerves are shot.’ And Colin said, ‘Me too.’”

Colin Jost Responds to the Backlash

Jost later addressed the joke and Johansson’s reaction during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. He admitted that his wife was “genuinely so shocked” and acknowledged that the segment may have landed him in trouble.

“I’m in trouble, I think, with a lot of people,” he joked.

While some fans debated whether the joke crossed a line, others pointed out that Johansson has been the subject of SNL’s humor for years—often in good fun.

A Long History of SNL Jokes

Johansson has been connected to Saturday Night Live for over a decade, hosting the show multiple times since 2006. Her relationship with Jost, which began in 2017, has made her a frequent topic on Weekend Update.

During the 2022 holiday joke swap, Jost was put in another awkward position when he read a joke poking fun at Johansson’s acting career:

“New York state now allows movie theaters to serve alcohol, which is how I’m finally able to enjoy my wife’s little art movies.”

Johansson, however, has embraced SNL’s comedic nature, even declaring her love for the show during her 2019 hosting gig. At the time, she called Studio 8H “a very special place” before kissing Jost onstage, solidifying her deep ties to the long-running comedy series.

Payback on SNL

While Johansson has been the subject of Weekend Update’s humor for years, SNL recently turned the tables—this time at Jost’s expense. On a recent episode, cast member Mikey Day poked fun at the fact that Jost’s income pales in comparison to Johansson’s.

“Imagine, Colin, if I were sitting here on television behind this desk, staring at that camera, the world staring back at me knowing that my wife’s income dwarfs my own! I would die.”

Jost laughed off the jab, proving that he, like his wife, has a good sense of humor when it comes to SNL’s antics.

Moving Forward

Despite the uproar surrounding the Christmas joke, Johansson seems to have taken it in stride, reaffirming that she and Jost share a strong bond and a shared appreciation for comedy. As she continues to balance major film roles—including her upcoming project Jurassic World Rebirth—with her personal life, it’s clear that she can handle a little SNL humor, even when it’s at her expense.

Follow us to see more useful information, as well as to give us more motivation to update more useful information for you.