NEW YORK (AP) — “Saturday Night Live” Weekend Update hosts Colin Jost and Michael Che took their traditional holiday joke swap to new heights Saturday night, with Jost’s wife Scarlett Johansson watching from backstage as the pair exchanged particularly personal barbs.
The segment, in which each host reads jokes written by the other without seeing them first, featured multiple jokes about Johansson, who had appeared earlier in the show’s cold open alongside other Five-Timers Club members to introduce host Martin Short.
Jost was instructed to deliver his lines “in a Black voice,” including several jokes about his marriage to Johansson, who turned 40 recently. The actress was shown reacting backstage, shaking her head in disbelief at increasingly risque punchlines about their relationship and their child.
“We just had a kid together, and y’all ain’t seen no pictures of him yet — because he Black as hell!” Jost was forced to read, while Johansson watched in apparent shock.
Che faced his own uncomfortable moments, having to deliver jokes about Jeffrey Epstein and controversial allegations against hip-hop moguls Jay-Z and Diddy.
The joke swap has become a holiday tradition for the Weekend Update duo, typically performed during Christmas and season finale episodes. Johansson had previously commented on the segment in a July interview, saying, “We need to go into like, witness protection after that night. I black out for that period of the night. I actually don’t remember it.”
Despite the edgy content, Johansson appeared in good spirits during the show’s curtain call, later seen conversing with Jost and fellow guest Paul Rudd.
The segment highlighted the show’s willingness to push boundaries with its holiday traditions, even at the expense of its own cast members and their families.
