Colin Jost Reveals Wife Scarlett Johansson’s Exact Text After He Bought Staten Island Ferry with Pete Davidson

Brenton BlanchetWed, April 29, 2026 at 5:19 PM UTC

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Scarlett Johansson, Colin Jost attend a Sept. 25, 2025 screening of 'Eleanor the Great' in New YorkCredit: Michael Loccisano/Getty -

Colin Jost is sharing how Scarlett Johansson reacted to his 2022 ferry purchase

The Saturday Night Live mainstay also shut down reports that the purchase, which he made with Pete Davidson, was a "crazy money pit" during his forthcoming appearance on SmartLess

"A home run for me is its a thing that could be used for an event space but also has an every-day purpose," he said of his vision for the ferry

Colin Jost is shedding light on Scarlett Johansson's reaction when he and Pete Davidson went all in on purchasing the Staten Island Ferry.

On the forthcoming May 4 episode of Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, and Sean Hayes' podcast, SmartLess, the Saturday Night Live star, 43, revealed how he broke the news to his loved ones after the major purchase.

Jost snagged the decommissioned vessel for $280,000 back in 2022, The New York Times reported at the time.

Jost shared that he first texted his dad, a Staten Island teacher. "He literally was like, 'Did you do your homework?' Which is such a teacher thing to say," he said. "I was like, 'Dad, I'm just sort of texting you as a formality. I already bought the boat.'"

Jost then texted Johansson, with whom he shares two children. "'Guess what? We own a ferry now,'" he recalled of his text. "And she was like, 'We?'"

Colin Jost and Scarlett Johansson attend the 78th annual Cannes Film Festival on May 20, 2025Credit: Ernesto Ruscio/Getty

Jost reiterated on SmartLess that he "thought in a real estate way" when purchasing the boat, which was the same one he'd take as a high schooler. "If you put that on a dock in Manhattan, you’ve suddenly got basically a building on the waterfront," he said, later pushing back on reports that the purchase was a "sort of crazy money pit."

As for what's next for the ferry, Jost said he's already "done some events" on the boat and has basically made back the money he and Davidson have invested in it.

"A home run for me is its a thing that could be used for an event space but also has an every-day purpose," Jost said of his vision. "Two versions of it to me are, it could be an operating entertainment club, a place where you can go and have parties or there's regular parties on it. And then... I could imagine creating a place like a [swim club] that's not like a weird, fancy member's club, but is actually more middle-class, Manhattan swim club."

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Davidson, 32, and Jost co-purchased the decommissioned John F. Kennedy Staten Island ferry boat with Jost in 2022. The Stand comedy club owner Paul Italia was also involved in the purchase. They've since hosted several events on board, including a Tommy Hilfiger New York Fashion Week show, while it was docked at Pier 17.

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Jost previously admitted that buying the boat wasn’t the smartest move for him as an otherwise “conservative” spender.

"It is absolutely the dumbest and least thought-through purchase I've ever made in my life," Jost told PEOPLE in September 2024 at the Tommy Hilfiger show. "The way I justified it is for the amount of money we were putting into buying it, on just a basic square-footage level, is if you found the right place for it to be, you were essentially buying a building on its side that's 65,000 square feet. So around New York, that is a very good price per square foot."

Jost also joked at the time that he "soft-floated" the idea past his wife before making the purchase. "She now obviously sees the value in it, but also I think she's like, 'It's now become something that is a defining thing for you guys and an interesting thing for you guys. So you should take it seriously and figure out the best version of it, because for better or worse, it's going to reflect on you,'" he said. "We don't care because we're comedians."

Davidson provided an update on the ferry during a July 2025 appearance on Hot Ones, when he discussed one "pro" and one "con" about owning the ferry.

"Here's the pro, we have a really good plan," Davidson said. "It's fun to have a dream and know nothing about... like, we didn't know anything about this stuff. And to be honest, when I bought it, I was really high. It was back when I did drugs."

"It's been fun," he later added. "We talk to aquatic engineers and we have conversations with the sea port and all these things that we're learning. Maritime law!"

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”