I truly cannot get over the fact that we’re still learning the lore behind that time Colin Jost and Pete Davidson bought a Staten Island Ferry. Every time it comes up, it’s entertaining, and every time it comes up, I feel like I learn something new that makes me laugh. This time, the Weekend Update host revealed the one-word response Scarlett Johansson had to the purchase he made.
So, this all came up again because Sean Hayes asked Jost to tell the story about the ferry on the Smartless podcast. The Saturday Night Live star explained that this ferry they bought was literally the one he’d ride to high school, and he decided to text Pete Davidson to see if they should buy it. Explaining that Davidson is “the wrong person to text when you have an idea like this,” the comedian went on to recall the text he sent his dad about the purchase and the reaction the Avengers actress had to it, too, saying:
I texted my dad, who is a teacher on Staten Island, and he literally was like, 'Did you do your homework?' Which is such a teacher thing to say. I was like, 'Dad, I'm just sort of texting you as a formality. I already bought the boat.’ Then I texted Scarlett, like, 'Guess what? We own a ferry now.' And she was like, 'We?’
You can see Colin Jost on Saturday Night Live. New episodes air on the 2026 TV schedule on its titular night at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC. It's also available with a Peacock subscription.
Well, that’s hilarious, and I can’t say I blame her for questioning the “we” of her husband’s statement. Plus, this is by no means the first time Johansson has joked about the ferry purchase. In fact, she’s trolled Jost on Today by saying they could use a GoFundMe.
Article continues belowOverall, she’s maintained a great sense of humor about it all. However, she's also given them advice, as Jost recalled during an interview with People in 2024, she said the comedians “should take [the ferry] seriously and figure out the best version of it.”
In the same 2024 interview, Jost joked about the boat as well. However, he also justified the purchase, saying they actually got a good deal based on “price per square foot,” considering the ferry is 65,000 square feet. He used that line of thinking on this new podcast, too, as he explained that he bought the boat for $280 thousand.
Now they’re in the process of finding a “dedicated spot” for it. It seems like they're getting there, too, as he said he thinks they’re “actually getting close” to finding it a home. All jokes aside, the SNL cast member said on the podcast:
I joke about it a lot, but we’ve done some events on it where we really have already made back the money we’ve invested, and the money we’ve spent on stuff to dock it and all that. So, it’s very misreported that it’s some sort of crazy money pit.
He also explained that the “goal” of the massive Staten Island Ferry is to either turn it into “an operating entertainment club” or some kind of accessible space that’s like “a cruise ship that doesn’t leave” that’s made for “families.”
These ideas go along with the updates Davidson has given too. A little over a year ago, he said they were “a lot closer than people seem to think” with getting the boat up and running, and he detailed some of the plans they have for it.
At this point, Jost and Davidson have been fielding questions about the ferry for years, and the jokes just keep on coming about it, too. Of course, this includes the hilarious short responses Scarlett Johansson has dropped about it, too. Hopefully, we’ll get some more of those in the years to come as the two comedians continue to make waves with their Staten Island Ferry.
