Colin Jost Says Scarlett Johansson Is to Blame for Viral Guitar Moment on SNL

The Weekend Update anchor revealed that the guitar belongs to his fiancé!

By Allison Crist Jul 08, 2020 9:03 PMTags
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We're finally getting answers about that guitar.

The standout moment from the first-ever remote episode of Saturday Night Live didn't come from Tom Hanks' comforting opening monologue or Larry David's impersonation of a quarantined Bernie Sanders, but during Colin Jost's segment on Weekend Update.

Jost was filming the episode from home due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and as he spoke into the camera, viewers noticed what seemed like a well-placed prop in the background of his shot. The item—a guitar—quickly became the subject of tweets and commentary poking fun at the SNL head writer, and the shot of him and the instrument ultimately went viral.

As it turns out, the guitar wasn't even his! According to Jost, it belongs to his fiancé, Scarlett Johansson.

"Scarlett had that guitar forever and it was in the quarantine," Jost told The New York Times. "She was like, 'Maybe I should learn to how to play,' and just left it on the couch."

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Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost's Cutest Pics

Jost continued, "It was so perfectly framed there and then everyone pointed it out and I was like, how can I be so dumb? I had no awareness of it at all."

This actually isn't the first time the 38-year-old has addressed the guitar incident. Ahead of the second at-home SNL, Jost posted a screengrab of his famous Weekend Update segment to Instagram, writing, "My favorite observation from last episode, even among my fellow cast members, was: 'Great job including the guitar, douchebag.'"

"This might sound incomprehensible but I did not know it was on the couch, let alone perfectly framed behind me," Jost added. "I have never, nor do I pretend to play, the guitar. Nor do I physically understand how it works. I just Mr Magoo'ed into having a guitar behind me." 

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Daniele Venturelli/WireImage

Perhaps the entire incident inspired Johansson to give learning how to play a second chance!

The couple got engaged in May 2019, and Jost referenced the wedding when speaking to the NYT about his new book, A Very Punchable Face: A Memoir.

"I'm about to get married," he said. "I now almost have a stepdaughter who I love and is a big part of my life now. I'm starting to do more and more outside of the show. It felt like the right time to look back."

Read the complete interview here

(E! and NBC are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)

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