PersonDeveloping article

Colin Jost

Also recorded as Colin Kelly Jost

In this article References Browse the field

Colin Jost

Full name: Colin Kelly Jost.
Born: 1982 · Staten Island.
Nationality: United States
Occupation: comedian · actor · screenwriter · television director · writer
Education: Harvard University · Regis High School
Honours: Peabody Awards · Writers Guild of America Award
Languages: English

Colin Kelly Jost (; born June 29, 1982) is an American comedian, writer, and actor. He has been a staff writer for the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live since 2005, and co-anchor of Weekend Update since 2014. He also served as one of the show's co-head writers from 2012 to 2015 and later came back as one of the show's head writers from 2017 to 2022 alongside Michael Che.

In 2025, Jost received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the College of Staten Island, CUNY, in recognition of his contributions to comedy, television, and community service. He is a two-time Primetime Emmy Award winner and nineteen-time Emmy Award nominee for his work on Saturday Night Live and as a host of the gameshow Pop Culture Jeopardy!.

Early life and education

Jost was born on June 29, 1982, in New York City. He was raised in a Catholic household in the Grymes Hill neighborhood of Staten Island. His mother, Kerry J. Kelly, was the chief medical officer for the New York City Fire Department, and his father, Daniel A. Jost, was a teacher at Staten Island Technical High School. He has one younger brother, Casey Jost, a writer and a producer of Impractical Jokers; he also had a role in Staten Island Summer.

Jost attended Regis High School in Manhattan, where he was the editor of the school newspaper The Owl and graduated in 2000. He then studied history and literature at Harvard University where he lived in Leverett House. He focused on Russian literature and British literature, and wrote his senior thesis on Vladimir Nabokov. Jost was president of The Harvard Lampoon and won $5,250 on a college edition of Weakest Link, but said he did not think he deserved to win. He graduated from Harvard in 2004 with a Bachelor of Arts, cum laude.

Career

After graduation, Jost worked as a reporter and copy editor for the Staten Island Advance. He was then hired as a writer for a short-lived Nickelodeon animated show, Kappa Mikey. After that job, he sent in a writing packet to NBC's Saturday Night Live, which landed him a writing position in 2005.

From 2009 to 2012, Jost was SNLs writing supervisor. He was co-head writer from 2012 to 2015, and regained that status from 2017 to 2022. He often collaborated with fellow SNL co-head writer Rob Klein. During the summer hiatus following the 2012–2013 season, executive producer Lorne Michaels asked Jost if he could do the Weekend Update feature because co-anchor Seth Meyers would soon be leaving to host Late Night with Seth Meyers. Jost accepted and replaced Meyers on the March 1, 2014, episode. Jost broke Meyers' record for being the longest-serving anchor in the history of the segment with the October 23, 2021, episode hosted by Jason Sudeikis.

Jost has named Norm Macdonald as a primary influence for his Update anchor work, citing Macdonald's tone as the one he grew up with in high school. He has also named Tina Fey as an influence. In addition to Weekend Update, Jost made a brief cameo appearance as Ohio Governor John Kasich in a Republican presidential debate sketch. He later portrayed his friend Pete Buttigieg during the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries and Roger Goodell during the 2021 NFL season. In 2025 and 2026 he portrayed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

Jost has performed as a stand-up comedian, appearing on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, TBS, and HBO. He was selected as a "New Face" at the Montréal Just for Laughs festival in 2009, and has since appeared at the Chicago Just for Laughs festival in 2011 and 2012 and the Montréal festival again in 2010 and 2012. Jost has published four "Shouts and Murmurs" pieces in The New Yorker magazine and has also contributed to The New York Times Magazine, The Huffington Post, The Staten Island Advance and Radar. He wrote the screenplay of and played a minor role in the 2015 comedy film Staten Island Summer, and he also had a minor role as Paul in the 2016 romantic comedy feature How to Be Single. In January 2016, Jost opened for comedian Liam McEneaney's album recording at The Bell House in Brooklyn. In late 2018, Jost and Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers appeared in an advertising campaign for Izod.

In September 2018, Jost cohosted the Primetime Emmy Awards, along with Michael Che.

Jost, along with Michael Che, appeared on the March 4, 2019, episode of WWE's Monday Night Raw, where both were announced as special correspondents for WrestleMania 35. In the March 4 episode, they got involved in a storyline with wrestler Braun Strowman, which resulted in both Jost and Che becoming participants in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania. At the event, Jost and Che went under the ring for the majority of the match and then tried to eliminate Strowman while he was trying to do the same to the Hardy Boyz. Jost attempted to calm the situation by using his therapist, but Strowman chokeslammed him and eliminated the two comedians in quick succession, winning the battle royal.

In July 2020, Jost released a memoir, A Very Punchable Face: A Memoir. The book was well received and appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List.

On April 27, 2024, Jost hosted the White House Correspondents' Dinner, an annual gathering of reporters usually entertained by the president and a comedian. In his 20-minute monologue, Jost roasted Trump and Biden, offered support of Biden's "decency", joked about his married life with Scarlett Johansson, and celebrated the free press.

Jost made a cameo in the 2024 film Fly Me to the Moon, which starred his wife Scarlett Johansson.

On July 31, 2024, it was announced that Jost would be the host of the game show Pop Culture Jeopardy! on Amazon Prime Video, later moving to Netflix in 2026.

Personal life

• Illustration — Jost and Scarlett Johansson in 2023

Jost was dormmates with former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg while the two lived in Leverett House at Harvard. In 2015, Jost donated money to Buttigieg's mayoral reelection campaign. Subsequently, during Buttigieg's presidential campaign, Jost portrayed Buttigieg in the 45th season of SNL.

Jost is married to actress Scarlett Johansson (marking Jost's first and Johansson's third marriage), whom he met during one of her many occasions hosting SNL. They began a relationship in May 2017; in May 2019, the two became engaged. They married in October 2020 at their New York home. Johansson gave birth to their son in August 2021.

In 2023, Jost, along with fellow SNL comedian and Staten Island native Pete Davidson, purchased a decommissioned Staten Island Ferry boat, the MV John F. Kennedy. The ferry was used in the film Screamboat.

Jost is an avid surfer, and was sent to Tahiti by NBC Sports for its coverage of the surfing competition at the 2024 Summer Olympics. However, he went back home for medical treatment before the competition ended, after suffering multiple infections from cutting his foot on a reef.

Television

• Year — Series — Role — Notes

• 2002 — Weakest Link — Himself — Contestant

• 2005–present — Saturday Night Live — Himself, Various — Also writer

• 2006 — Kappa Mikey — Writer

7 episodes

• 2017 — Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday — Himself — 3 episodes; also writer

• 2018 — 75th Golden Globe Awards — Writer

• 2018 — 70th Primetime Emmy Awards — Himself (host) — TV special

• 2019 — WWE Raw — Himself — Special guest (2 episodes)

• 2019 — WrestleMania 35 — Himself — Special guest

• 2020 — Impractical Jokers: Dinner Party — Himself — Episode: "The Childhood Meals Episode"

• 2021 — RuPaul's Drag Race — Himself — 1 episode

• 2022 — Impractical Jokers — Himself — 1 episode

• 2022 — That Damn Michael Che — Michael Che/Himself — Episode: "Black Mediocrity"

• 2024 — White House Correspondents' Dinner — Himself (host) — TV special

• 2024–present — Pop Culture Jeopardy! — Himself (host) — Amazon Prime Video

Netflix

Awards and honors

• Year — Award — Nominated work — Result — Ref.

• 2007 — Writers Guild of America Award for Comedy/Variety (including talk) series — Saturday Night Live

• 2008 — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music, or Comedy Series — Saturday Night Live

• 2009 — Writers Guild of America Award for Comedy/Variety (including talk) series — Saturday Night Live

• Peabody Award — Saturday Night Live

• Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music, or Comedy Series — Saturday Night Live

• 2010 — Writers Guild of America Award for Comedy/Variety (including talk) series — Saturday Night Live