Colin Jost has no problem joking about his wife Scarlett Johansson’s celebrity status.
The “Saturday Night Live” star headlined the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday, April 27 in Washington D.C.
During his speech, he poked fun at his marriage to Johansson and their varying levels of fame when he addressed second gentleman Doug Emhoff, husband of Vice President Kamala Harris.
“Doug, as you can tell by all the comments about my wife, I’m also used to being the Second Gentleman,” Jost told Emhoff.
Jost also referenced Johansson later in his speech, taking a moment to thank his family and friends for attending the event to support him.
“I want to thank my wife for enduring lots of jokes and for agreeing to individually meet everyone in this room right after the ceremony,” he said. “That’s really special honey, thank you. Don’t be shy, come right up. She hates privacy!”
Earlier in his speech, Jost also referenced the economic impact Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour” made in 2023.
“People keep asking if our lives are better than they were four years ago. Of course they are! Four years ago, we didn’t have online sports gambling,” Jost joked. “What more do you need?”
He added, “By the way, that’s probably what’s keeping the economy afloat — online gambling and Taylor Swift. Without those, we’d probably be in a recession by now.”
At the end of his speech, Jost recalled a touching story about his late grandfather, William Kelly, the namesake for his son Cosmo’s middle name. Jost shared that his grandfather helped raise him growing up and that he would “not be here today without him.”
“My grandpa was a firefighter on Staten Island for 40 years. To make extra money for his family, he was a substitute teacher and he painted houses,” Jost explained. “And since it’s Staten Island, it’s not like the Scorsese ‘Irishman’ painting houses. He was not a mafia hitman, he actually painted houses. The FBI is here, I don’t want to start a whole thing.”
The 2024 White House Correspondents’ Dinner was a star-studded event, including TODAY’s Al Roker and Savannah Guthrie in addition to NBC News’ Lester Holt and Kristen Welker.
Jost and Johansson were photographed together on the red carpet prior to the event. The “Black Widow” star donned a strapless white gown for the occasion, while Jost opted for a tuxedo jacket and matching pants and a black bowtie.
Other celebrities in attendance included Chris Pine, Molly Ringwald, Gayle King, Rachel Brosnahan, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Rosario Dawson, Billy Porter, Lorne Michaels, and Questlove, as well as marked the red carpet debut of Sophia Bush and Ashlyn Harris.