Scarlett Johansson described how she “blacked out” when she saw her photo during her husband Colin Jost’s annual joke swap segment on “Saturday Night Live” last month.
“That’s like a tame version if you’ve ever seen the jokes,” Johansson — who is often the target of at least one joke in that segment each year — told Kelly Clarkson on Thursday’s episode of “The Kelly Clarkson Show.”
“As soon as they showed my picture, I —” Johansson continued, admitting, “I actually don’t remember that segment. I completely blacked out.”
Johansson appeared on “The Kelly Clarkson Show” on Thursday, where she discussed her reaction to Jost’s joke about her body. “It was brutal,” she said. “I feel like every year it gets worse.”
Jost made the joke during the Season 49 finale of “SNL,” where he and his “Weekend Update” co-host Michael Che perform their annual joke swap segment, writing offensive jokes for each other to deliver live.
Jost began with an anxious laugh, “ChatGPT has released a new voice assistant feature inspired by Scarlett Johansson’s AI character in ‘Her.’”
He then added, “Which I’ve never bothered to watch, because without that body, what’s the point of listening?” This comment shocked the audience.
Reflecting on the moment, Johansson told Clarkson, “That’s like a tame version,” adding that she “fully blacked out” during the cringeworthy joke.
She further lamented, “It is brutal. I feel like every year it gets worse.” She joked about needing “witness protection that night,” saying, “I am absolutely terrified we’re going to be targeted. It’s so bad.”
This isn’t the first time Jost has publicly joked at his wife’s expense. Last December, during their Christmas joke swap, Jost read one of Che’s jokes, which forced him to compare Johansson to a prominent civil rights icon.
Jost joked that a recent law in New York allowing alcohol to be served in movie theaters was the only thing that made him enjoy Johansson’s “little art movies.”
He then issued a mock apology, also written by Che: “I’m kidding, honey. I love all of your movies. And if you ask me, you’re an even better Black Widow than Coretta Scott King.”
Johansson and Jost have been married since 2020.
