Colin Jost has revealed his wife Scarlett Johansson’s real reaction to the NSFW ‘roast beef’ joke performed on Saturday Night Live.
SNL is certainly not afraid to push the boat out when it comes to risqué jokes, with Jost and Michael Che’s joke swap seemingly having no boundaries.
While it can certainly make for some hilarious viewing for those watching at home, there have been many awkward moments over the years.
And one of them moments came with Johansson recently.
For those unfamiliar with the format of the show, the presenting duo write jokes for each other to read out during the ‘Weekend Update’, and the catch being that neither comedian has seen the jokes before delivering them on air.
It has become common practice over the years for Che to trick his co-presenter into telling controversial jokes about his wife.
During a Christmas edition of the show, Johansson was in the studio to witness all the jokes first hand.
“I want to dedicate this next joke to my boo, Scarlett Johansson,” Jost began his first joke before the camera immediately panned to his celebrity partner in the green room.
“Hey boo. Y’all know Scarlett just celebrated her 40th birthday, which means I’m about to get up out of there,” Jost added.
That may have been tame for SNL standards, but the next joke was certainly pushing the boundaries.
The gaff was focused on Jost and Johansson’s son Cosmo, who they welcomed in 2021.
It centred around why the pair haven’t shared a picture of their child, with Jost being forced to say on air that is because ‘he black as hell’, which garnered huge gasps from the audience.
Sitting down on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Monday (January 20), Jost revealed how his wife really felt about the jokes.
He said: “I’m in trouble I think with a lot of people. Scarlett was genuinely so shocked.”
Jost admitted to being ‘obviously surprised’ he had to read out the jokes on SNL, but Johansson was warned about the nature of the segment prior to the show.
“They were like, ‘Hey, would you be OK if Michael made a little, like, kind of vagina joke at some point?’ She was like, ‘Sure, whatever, I’m open to it,’” Jost told Fallon.
He added: “I didn’t know where it was going, and then the graphic came up for Arby’s. So Scarlett is backstage like, ‘Oh my God, that’s what it is.’”
