Tara McCauley October 30th, 2020 - 1:46 AM
Over the weekend, Saturday Night Live head writer Colin Jost (Saturday Night Live, How To Be Single) married fiancé Scarlett Johansson (Avengers: End Game, Captain America: Civil War) in an intimate ceremony that adhered to COVID-19 guidelines. The charity organization Meals on Wheels broke news of the couple’s nuptials with a post on Instagram this Thursday. Jost and Johanssan’s “wedding wish is to help make a difference for vulnerable older adults during this difficult time by supporting [Meals on Wheels]” which is why the charity was the one to break the news, via Instagram.
According to People, the couple, engaged in 2018, first met in 2006 when Johansson hosted Saturday Night Live for the first time during Jost’s freshman year as a staff writer. As Johansson’s acting career reached blockbuster success, particularly for her role as Black Widow in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, she would return to host SNL and has hosted the program six times to date. Since first meeting Jost at Studio 8H in 2006, Johansson had married twice – actor Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool) and journalist Romain Duriac – but after her second marriage ended she kindled a spark with the writer who had taken up Seth Meyers’ (Late Night with Seth Meyers, The Awesomes) Weekend Update mantle on Saturday Night Live.
Reports of the couples’ romantic relationship first came after they were spotted kissing one another during the after-party for Saturday Night Live’s season 41 finale in 2017, according to Page Six. The Rockefeller ice rink hosted the season 41 finale party and, by the season 42 mid-season finale, Jost and Johansson could be seen kissing at that same location on-air in the show’s credits. Both romantic sightings of the couple came after Johansson made special guest appearances on the program to play Ivanka Trump, rather than serving as host herself.
Since the couple went public with their relationship, it has served as a source for many jokes on Saturday Night Live. Johansson referenced the relationship during her 2019 opening monologue as host and Pete Davidson, the subject of many jokes about personal relationships himself, made a comment about the relationship during his quarantine dating piece on a “SNL at Home” edition of Weekend Update. However, Jost’s Weekend Update partner, Michael Che (Saturday Night Live, Michael Che Matters), has undoubtedly had the most fun with the couple’s relationship.
Che and Jost’s dynamic behind the Weekend Update desk relies on personal jabs and witty banter and the writer’s relationship with Johansson certainly plays a role in their back-and-forth. The Weekend Update hosts are close friends away from the desk and Jost expressed his desire for Che to object at his wedding to Johansson on Ellen. Whether he objected or not, it can be expected that Che will comment on the couple’s marriage during Saturday’s edition of Weekend Update.
Jost and Johansson are one, of many, couples who can credit their relationship to Saturday Night Live, a show Buzzfeed has referred to as “Tinder for famous people.” Musician Ariana Grande and Pete Davidson’s (Saturday Night Live, The King of Staten Island) whirlwind of a relationship began on the show, with the comedian making many jokes about it on the program. Other couples to come from the show include Jason Sudeikis (Ted Lasso, Horrible Bosses) and Olivia Wilde (House, Tron: Legacy), who have been married for nearly a decade.
