Scarlett Johansson Reveals the Awkward First Date Moment That Almost Derailed Her Romance With Colin Jost
Scarlett Johansson recently shared how her very first date with Colin Jost ended in an unexpectedly abrupt — and admittedly “weird” — way, proof that even one of Hollywood’s most glamorous couples began with a slightly awkward rom-com moment. The story, told while she was co-hosting an episode of Today with Hoda & Jenna, offers a charming look at how two very public figures stumbled into a very real relationship.
What makes the anecdote so fun isn’t just the dating faux pas itself, but what it reveals about celebrity relationships, modern romance, and how chemistry can survive an eyebrow-raising first impression.
From SNL Sketches to Real-Life Romance: How Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost Got Here
By the time Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost went on that now-infamous first date, both were already firmly embedded in pop culture. Johansson was deep into her run as Black Widow in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and an established dramatic actor with films like Lost in Translation, Marriage Story, and Her. Jost, meanwhile, was best known as the co-anchor of “Weekend Update” and longtime writer on Saturday Night Live.
The two first met years earlier on the SNL set, but their romantic connection didn’t fully spark until much later. Their relationship eventually went public around 2017, they got engaged in 2019, married in 2020, and welcomed a son, Cosmo, in 2021 — a timeline that has played out mostly in the background while both have maintained busy careers.
Against that backdrop, Johansson’s story about their awkward first date feels especially disarming: it’s a reminder that all the red carpets and studio deals don’t exempt anyone from making very human, very awkward dating decisions.
The “Weird” First Date Faux Pas That Left Colin Jost Confused
While co-hosting Today with Hoda & Jenna, Johansson opened up about that early rendezvous with Jost. She explained that the date ended abruptly — not because it was going badly, but because she chose to cut it short in a way that even she now admits came off as odd.
“I think I just kind of bailed in this way that, looking back, probably seemed really weird,” she recalled, noting that Jost gave her a look that clearly said, “Wait, what just happened?”
The gist: instead of leaning into the romantic energy, she wrapped things up abruptly, leaving Jost raising an eyebrow and wondering whether he’d just misread the whole situation. It wasn’t a dramatic blow-up or a disaster story — more like a soft, slightly awkward fade-out that could’ve been the end of the whole thing.
That minor social fumble actually tracks with a more realistic kind of dating anxiety than most celebrity fairy tales admit. It’s the sort of “I panicked and left early” story you’d expect to hear from a friend, not an A-list star.
Why Celebrity First-Date Stories Hit Different in 2025
In an era where celebrity couples are often rolled out like brand collabs, Scarlett and Colin have always projected a slightly offbeat, almost old-school energy: she’s the movie star who navigates indie cred and blockbuster spectacle, he’s the dry, Weekend Update satirist who looks perpetually bemused by fame.
Their dynamic taps into a long lineage of “serious actor meets comedy writer” pairings — think Tina Fey and Jeff Richmond, or Emily Blunt and John Krasinski — but with a twist: Johansson has been a fixture of the gossip ecosystem since her teen years, whereas Jost’s fame rose later, anchored in writerly prestige rather than tabloid visibility.
Against this backdrop, Johansson admitting to a slightly clumsy first date plays well with contemporary audiences. It’s aligned with a broader shift in celebrity culture: less curated perfection, more “here’s the awkward truth about how this actually went down.”
How HuffPost and Morning TV Turned a Small Moment Into a Viral Story
The anecdote first made waves via coverage from outlets like HuffPost, which framed the story as Johansson “ditching” Jost on their first date. That headline language — “spills,” “ditched,” “weird” — is classic digital entertainment phrasing, designed for quick social-media pickup while still rooted in a fairly low-stakes revelation.
Morning shows like Today have increasingly become soft-confessional spaces where celebrities workshop personal anecdotes in exchange for viral clips. A disarming story about almost sabotaging a future marriage in its first act is prime material: relatable enough to circulate, light enough to avoid backlash.
Johansson doesn’t frame the moment as a regret so much as a funny glitch in the timeline — a near-miss that, in hindsight, makes the relationship story more textured.
For HuffPost and similar outlets, this kind of story sits at the intersection of celebrity news and rom-com gossip — easily shareable, personality-driven content that doesn’t hinge on scandal, but on personality.
What the Story Reveals About Scarlett and Colin’s Relationship Dynamic
The first-date mishap, minor as it is, reinforces the image of Johansson and Jost as a couple built on mutual humor and a shared tolerance for awkwardness. It’s easy to picture Jost — whose entire SNL persona is based on the raised eyebrow — quietly clocking the abrupt exit and filing it away as a punchline for later.
- Self-awareness: Johansson’s willingness to call her own move “weird” suggests a comfort with self-deprecation, which pairs neatly with Jost’s deadpan comedy.
- Low-drama narrative: There’s no scandal, no explosive argument — just a small social misstep that both eventually laughed off.
- Organic evolution: The story underscores that the relationship wasn’t an instant, flawless movie montage, but something that developed despite imperfect early beats.
In an industry where many relationships are framed either as high drama or glossy perfection, this kind of charmingly imperfect origin story helps the pair feel accessible without sacrificing their privacy.
The Appeal and Limits of These “Relatable Celebrity” Moments
As content, this story works on several levels: it’s short, memeable, and easily summarized — “Scarlett Johansson low-key bailed on Colin Jost on their first date” — while still giving fans a new angle on a familiar couple. It also slots neatly into a broader media trend that rewards vulnerability, or at least the appearance of it.
At the same time, it’s important to see this kind of anecdote as a curated slice of relatability. There’s nothing especially risky or revealing about admitting to an awkward exit years after the fact, especially from the comfortable vantage point of a happy marriage and child.
- Strength: Humanizes two highly visible figures without invading their privacy.
- Strength: Feeds fan interest in celebrity love stories while keeping the tone light and playful.
- Weakness: The “relatability” is still carefully managed; we’re getting a polished anecdote, not raw confession.
- Weakness: As news, it’s more snackable gossip than substantial insight, which is fine — as long as we treat it that way.
Where Their Paths Cross Onscreen: SNL, Marvel, and Beyond
For viewers who only know Scarlett and Colin as names in headlines, there’s plenty of material that shows their individual strengths — and occasionally, their shared orbit.
- Saturday Night Live (NBC / Peacock) – Jost’s home turf, where Johansson has hosted multiple times. Their chemistry occasionally peeks through in monologues and sketches.
- Black Widow (2021) – Johansson’s long-awaited solo Marvel film, solidifying her status as a blockbuster lead.
- Marriage Story (2019) – One of her most acclaimed performances, showing a very different side than her Marvel persona.
- A Very Punchable Face (book by Colin Jost) – Jost’s memoir, which offers his own, self-effacing spin on fame and personal history.
Awkward Beginnings, Solid Endings: Why This Story Resonates
Johansson’s confession about her awkward early date with Jost isn’t earth-shattering, but that’s precisely why it works. It’s a small, human-scale anecdote about a moment that could’ve nudged their story off course — and instead became a cute footnote in a successful relationship.
In 2025’s crowded celebrity-news cycle, tales like this function less as hard “scoops” and more as character beats in an ongoing narrative: they build out the sense that, behind the Marvel premieres and SNL cold opens, this is just a couple who survived a slightly strange first date and kept going anyway.
And for anyone currently replaying their own awkward exits and abrupt goodnights, it’s a reassuring precedent: raising an eyebrow at a weird first date doesn’t mean it’s the last chapter — sometimes, it’s just the prologue.
