Red Flags In Scarlett Johansson & Colin Jost's Relationship We Can't Ignore

Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost are one of Hollywood's most perplexing duos. You don't typically see someone like Johansson, one of the highest-grossing actors of all time, with a man like Jost, a comedian whose biggest claim to fame is playing a fake newscaster on "Saturday Night Live's" popular "Weekend Update" segment. In fact, when the celebrity couple initially got engaged in 2019, satirical publication The Onion even nodded to their baffling courtship in an article entitled: "Relationship Experts Still No Closer to Discovering What Scarlett Johansson Sees in Colin Jost." 

Yet, despite all the constant chatter that the Oscar winner could easily do better if she wanted, Johansson and Jost quietly married in 2020 and have been happily together ever since. They welcomed their first child, Cosmo, in 2021, and despite the stress of parenting and their demanding careers, they still seem to be head over heels in love. 

"He's a very, very, very great guy. I'm extremely lucky," Johansson gushed on "Live with Kelly and Mark" in 2024, sweetly adding, "He's a kind person, and he's hilarious and thoughtful and loving. And he's a great dad, and I love him." But unfortunately, there are also plenty of signs that Johansson and Jost's marriage won't last in the long run.

As a "Weekend Update" anchor on "SNL," Colin Jost has the very important job of reporting current events through a comical lens. While his wife Scarlett Johansson sometimes makes headlines, he usually finds other news stories to use as his material. However, Jost and his co-anchor and close friend Michael Che have a holiday tradition on the show where they'll write jokes for each other to read on air, with the catch being that neither sees them until they're live. Almost always, the jokes Che pens for Jost come at the expense of his marriage. 

In the 2024 Christmas joke swap, Jost began reading a joke that Che had written for him about Johansson turning 40. It started out innocent enough, but then came the punchline: "Which means I'm about to get up outta there," Jost read, suggesting that he was about to leave her (via YouTube). Another joke saw Jost leading with the news that Costco was removing its roast beef sandwich from its menu. "I've been eating roast beef every night since my wife had the kid," the visibly embarrassed co-host continued, seemingly referring to his wife's private parts as lunch meat. The camera then cut to Johansson, who appeared on the show that night, with her jaw dropped, mouthing, "Oh my god!"

On X, formerly known as Twitter, fans were so taken aback by Jost's comments that they began speculating that she could potentially leave him. "Collin's [sic] one joke away from a divorce," opined one person. "I can only imagine the car ride home," quipped another. Just a few days later, another user tweeted, "Can scarlett like divorce colin already he's such a pos," which may have also been in response to the shocking segment.  

On top of Michael Che penning some pretty nefarious jokes about Scarlett Johansson that Colin Jost was then forced to read live on-air, the show's other writers seemingly have no respect for his marriage either. In February 2025, the "Black Widow" star took part in "SNL's" 50th anniversary celebrations, where she was featured in the "New York 50th Musical" sketch. Seemingly playing a parody of Audrey from "Little Shop of Horrors," Johansson was dressed as a battered woman. "SNL" alum John Mulaney, who played a hot dog vendor in the sketch, asked Johansson's character: "Oh my god! Who hit you? Colin?" The Marvel star responded, "No. Not this time." 

On X, fans were shocked that the sketch show would make such a vulgar joke about such a sensitive topic. "How is that funny?" wondered one user. Another admitted, "Not really sure how [domestic violence] is funny tbh." There is, crucially, absolutely zero evidence to suggest that Jost has ever physically hurt his wife. It was, however, an unseemly joke for someone to make about their husband, whom they appear to love very much. Given Jost's role on the hit show and the fact that Johansson has made multiple appearances, they both likely could have asked for the line to be omitted or changed, but there's no proof that either one of them were uncomfortable with it either.

Prior to marrying Colin Jost, Scarlett Johansson was twice divorced; first from Ryan Reynolds, then from Romain Dauriac. As the Oscar nominee told Playboy, for its March/April 2017 issue, "I think the idea of marriage is very romantic; it's a beautiful idea, and the practice of it can be a very beautiful thing." However, Johansson also acknowledged that monogamy wasn't necessarily for everybody, reasoning, "It's a lot of work. And the fact that it is such work for so many people — for everyone — the fact of that proves that it is not a natural thing. It's something I have a lot of respect for and have participated in, but I think it definitely goes against some instinct to look beyond." 

Weirdly enough, the actor was romantically linked to Jost shortly after that interview was published, seemingly going back on what she'd said. Meanwhile, the comedian expressed his own fears about settling down during a July 2019 stand-up set. At the time, Jost recalled how everybody seemed excited about getting married until they actually went through with it. But, "Then you talk to someone who's been married for five years, and they're like, 'Don't rush into it [...] you have your whole life ahead of you. Don't have kids. They're the worst,'" (via Page Six). While this was obviously a joke on Jost's part, it sounds like both he and Johansson were unsure about marriage yet still tied the knot.

If you're going to make a big financial decision, it usually helps to have your partner's support. But it appears that Scarlett Johansson wasn't on board (understandably so) with Colin Jost's decision to buy a boat with famous friend Pete Davidson after partying too hard. The funny friends purchased a decommissioned Staten Island ferry in January 2022 for $280,000. And, during a joint 2025 appearance on "Today with Jenna & Friends," the "Lucy" star made it abundantly clear that she didn't agree with her husband's unconventional and rather expensive purchase. 

"All I can say is if anybody out there would like to start a GoFundMe for the Staten Island Ferry, please be my guest," she quipped. "I don't know if I'm speaking for the Staten Island Ferry or against it, but help our family. This has now become a telethon for Support the Staten Island Ferry." Jost interjected to argue that the ferry was a lucrative investment, to which his famous wife cheekily responded, "If we sell it for scrap metal, maybe." 

While the celebrity couple were clearly teasing each other, Johansson's thinly veiled irritation at her husband's impulse buy spoke volumes. Watching him drop six figures on something so unpractical just a year after welcoming a baby may suggest that he's not focused on financially planning for their future together.

Whether or not you can really fall in love at first sight is debatable, but what we do know for sure is that Colin Jost and Scarlett Johansson's first meeting wasn't very fairytale-esque. The comedian, who started writing for "SNL" in 2005, met his future wife when she first hosted the show in January 2006. They've kept the details of that initial meeting pretty private, but it doesn't sound like there was much of a spark. "The first time she hosted was the first year I was a writer on the show. So, we've kind of known each other since then [...] She's the best," Jost confirmed to Entertainment Tonight in a 2017 interview. 

While there's no rule that dictates that you have to immediately pursue someone you're interested in, there presumably wasn't any attraction between them whatsoever. In fact, Johansson hosted the show four more times and made two guest cameos that required her to visit studio 8H before she and Jost got together in May 2017. Of course, they were both involved with other people during those 11 years, but their romance was still a slow burn.

Johansson's past high-profile relationships with fellow actors like Chris Evans and Ryan Reynolds might suggest that she's drawn to men who share her level of success in the entertainment industry. And perhaps after they fell apart, the Marvel star decided to give things a try with Jost because he was so different from her exes. But, you have to wonder if a relationship with someone considerably less famous will eventually get boring for her.