"Weekend Update" took its annual joke swap tradition to a new level in 2024 when Scarlett Johansson, wife of Colin Jost, watched it unfold live with a camera trained on her face. The actress previously revealed how she feels about the Saturday Night Live bit between Jost and Michael Che.
Johansson was probably riding high during the Saturday Night Live Christmas episode before "Weekend Update" went on the air. She joined a star-studded list of cameos during the Five Timers Club cold open, landing a hilarious gag involving Colin Jost along the way.
But the mood shifted when Michael Che revealed he had Johansson backstage during the "Weekend Update" joke swap. A camera captured the actress' reaction as Jost read a pretty NSFW joke about his wife.
For anyone still not convinced, yes the bit is real. Jost and Che have no idea what they are about to read. And the same goes for Johansson. She shared her thoughts on the "Weekend Update" tradition earlier this year on The Kelly Clarkson Show.
Saturday Night Live fans know that Che usually puts Jost in a tough spot by joking about touchy subjects like race. "We need go into, like, witness protection that night," Johansson told Kelly Clarkson. "I am absolutely terrified."
"It's so bad," she continued. "I black out for that period of the night. It is brutal. I feel like every year, it gets worse."
Johansson's prediction definitely came true just a few months after she revealed her feelings. Standing by while Jost delivered jokes about her takes things to a new level. It's hard to imagine how Che could top what we saw in December 2024.
Maybe that was Jost and Che's way of saying goodbye to Saturday Night Live and "Weekend Update"? The pair have teased leaving the show in the past, and season 50 does provide the perfect way to ride off into the sunset.
And what better way to cap off one of the best "Weekend Update" bits of all time by raising the bar to such great heights? Scarlett Johansson is probably the only person who'd be happy to see the tradition retired.