Scarlett Johansson to Co-Host NBC’s Today Show

Scarlett Johansson has conquered the superhero franchise, been nominated for several prestigious awards and years ago made her way into Saturday Night Live’s prestigious Five-Timers Club. Now, she’s set to enter the morning show wars with a gig as guest co-host of Today with Jenna & Friends on NBC.

Johansson is set to join Jenna Bush Hager on the morning show as a guest co-host on Tuesday, Jan. 21 for a week-long gig. Hager broke the news to People on Tuesday, gushing about booking the A-list star, who is one of several rotation celebrity guest co-hosts who will join her to fill the void left by Hoda Kotb’s departure; in addition to Johansson, stars already set for co-hosting slots are Taraji P. Henson, Eva Longoria and Keke Palmer.

“It’s just a wild dream. But that’s what I’m saying, the fact that she’s coming to give us a week of her time, she could be doing anything, is a testament to the show that we have built. So I am beyond thrilled. I cannot wait,” Bush Hager told the news outlet. “We’ve never seen Scarlett Johansson host a daytime show before!”

Bush Hager said on Tuesday’s show that she has “so many fun things planned” with the Avengers star; Kotb agreed and recalled her co-host’s excitement about asking Johansson to take the job. 

“First of all, you guys had a great click. She is an awesome person,” Kotb said. “And right away, I still remember, right when she was here, you were like, ‘Can she do it?’ You know when you know someone’s gonna be good at something?

“I think we’re gonna have a blast,” Bush Hager replied. The two have one key thing in common — both the host and the Hollywood star have a twin sibling and their first daughters are around the same age at 11 and 10 years old.

Today with Jenna & Friends is scheduled to launch Jan. 13 as the new version of the fourth hour of NBC’s Today. The show was the top morning show outright for the third quarter of 2024, besting ABC’s Good Morning America in total viewers and in the key demographic. The show was also the top morning show in the key demo for the 2023-24 season.