Scarlett Johansson is preparing for a light-hearted revenge when she returns to host Saturday Night Live on May 17. The actress, 40, hinted she may strike back at comedian Michael Che for a controversial joke made during the show’s December 2023 winter finale.
In a new Vanity Fair cover story, Johansson reflected on the moment her husband, SNL cast member Colin Jost, delivered a joke written by Che during the “Weekend Update” segment. At the time, the co-hosts were reading surprise jokes they had written for each other.
Jost began by saying, “Costco has removed their roast beef sandwich from their menu.” He then added, “But I ain’t tripping, I be eating roast beef every night since my wife had the kid.” The punchline appeared to reference Johansson in a crude way.
Following the joke, Jost buried his face in his hands. Johansson, who was backstage, looked visibly shocked and mouthed, “Oh my God.” The couple shares a 3-year-old son named Cosmo.
Johansson told Vanity Fair, “I had all these cameras on me. I didn’t expect the setup to be like that. I was like, ‘Wow, you really are seventh-, eighth-grade boys.’”
She made it clear that Che should expect some form of payback. “I feel like it’s almost my responsibility to come up with some way to burn Michael back,” she said. “Retaliation, I’d say, should be expected. Others on the show could support this desire. Know what I mean?”
In a past interview with InStyle, Johansson also said she was stunned by the joke. “I just can’t believe that they went there,” she said. “It was so vulgar. It was so gross. It was really gross. And, like, old-school gross.”
Johansson revealed that she had been warned a “vagina joke” was coming but didn’t expect it to go that far. “I thought, ‘It’s a vagina joke, how bad could it be?’” she recalled. “And then as soon as the Costco photo came up, I was like, ‘No! No, Michael!’”
She described the experience of having her reaction filmed live as “so intense.” She added, “They were waiting for me to react. I felt insane. The fact that it took on a full To Catch a Predator-style reveal or whatever … All of a sudden, it was like a whole bunch of people holding up lights, and a guy with a video camera.”
Jost also spoke about the incident during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in January. He said Johansson was “genuinely so shocked” by the joke and admitted, “I’m in trouble, I think, with a lot of people.”
He added that the producers had asked Johansson for permission in advance. “They were like, ‘Hey, would you be okay if Michael made a little, like, kind of vagina joke at some point?’” he recalled. “She was like, ‘Sure, whatever, I’m open to it.’ I didn’t know where it was going.”
As Johansson prepares to host SNL for the seventh time, fans may be in for another unforgettable moment—this time with Johansson holding the mic.
