Colin Jost Family has spent years making audiences laugh as a writer, comedian, and “Weekend Update” co-anchor on Saturday Night Live. Yet long before television made him a familiar face, his life was rooted in Staten Island, New York, where he grew up with his younger brother, Casey, in a family built around education, medicine, public service, and, as it turns out, plenty of humor.
The Colin Jost Family is interesting for reasons that go well beyond Colin’s television career or his marriage to actress Scarlett Johansson. His father, Daniel A. Jost, studied at Brown University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before pursuing a career in education. His mother, Dr. Kerry Kelly, spent decades caring for New York City firefighters and eventually became Chief Medical Officer of the FDNY. Colin’s younger brother, Casey Jost, took a different route but ended up in the same broad world as his older brother, building a career in comedy and television.
Colin later started a family of his own with Johansson. The couple married in 2020 and welcomed their son, Cosmo, the following year. Johansson also has a daughter, Rose Dorothy Dauriac, from her previous marriage.
Although the Jost family has attracted greater attention as Colin’s fame has grown, it’s worth separating documented information from assumptions that have circulated online. Their education, careers, marriage history, and Staten Island connections are well established. Claims about the family’s supposed fortune are much less certain.
Here’s what is reliably known about Colin Jost’s parents, brother, wife, children, and the New York family behind one of Saturday Night Live’s best-known performers.
Colin Jost Quick Bio Information
| Information | Details |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Colin Kelly Jost |
| Known As | Colin Jost |
| Date Of Birth | June 29, 1982 |
| Birthplace | Staten Island, New York City, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Profession | Comedian, Writer And Actor |
| Best Known For | Saturday Night Live |
| Father | Daniel A. Jost |
| Mother | Dr. Kerry Kelly |
| Brother | Casey Jost |
| Wife | Scarlett Johansson |
| Marriage Year | 2020 |
| Son | Cosmo |
| Stepfamily Connection | Rose Dorothy Dauriac |
| High School | Regis High School |
| College | Harvard University |
| Hometown | Staten Island, New York |
| Sister-In-Law | Lisa Kleinman |
Who Is Colin Jost?
Colin Kelly Jost was born on June 29, 1982, on Staten Island, one of New York City’s five boroughs. He spent his childhood there with his parents and younger brother before commuting to Manhattan for school.
Jost attended Regis High School, a selective Jesuit school in Manhattan, and later enrolled at Harvard University. At Harvard, he became involved with the Harvard Lampoon, the university’s long-running humor publication. The experience gave him an early opportunity to sharpen the comedy-writing skills that would eventually become central to his career.
His biggest professional break came when he joined Saturday Night Live as a writer in 2005. Over the years, Jost moved into senior writing roles and became increasingly visible on screen. His position as a “Weekend Update” co-anchor ultimately turned him from a successful behind-the-scenes comedy writer into a nationally recognizable television personality.
His rise was impressive, but it didn’t come from a family already established in show business. Colin’s parents had careers in education, engineering, medicine, and public service. His younger brother would eventually enter entertainment too, giving the Jost family an unusual mix of professional backgrounds.
Who Are Colin Jost’s Parents?
Colin Jost’s parents are Daniel A. Jost and Dr. Kerry Kelly. They raised Colin and his younger brother, Casey, on Staten Island, and both had substantial careers of their own long before either son became known for comedy.
Daniel’s academic background included Brown University and graduate studies at MIT. He later worked in education and became involved with community organizations on Staten Island.
Kerry followed a medical path. After completing her education, she joined the New York City Fire Department and eventually rose to one of its most important medical positions.
That context matters. Celebrity profiles sometimes mention Colin’s parents only in passing, but their professional histories provide a much clearer picture of the environment in which Colin and Casey grew up. Education and public service weren’t abstract ideas in the Jost household; they were central parts of their parents’ working lives.
Colin Jost’s Father Daniel A. Jost
Daniel A. Jost’s background is unusually well documented for the parent of a celebrity. A 1974 New York Times engagement announcement identified him as the son of Mr. and Mrs. John A. Jost of Lavallette, New Jersey.
According to the announcement, Daniel attended the Pingry School before graduating from Brown University. He then pursued graduate studies in civil engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Daniel later worked in education on Staten Island. He also became involved with local civic and cultural organizations, including activities associated with the Staten Island Museum.
While Colin’s success brought more public attention to the family, Daniel has largely remained outside the celebrity world. When he does appear in Colin’s stories, he’s often portrayed as practical and grounded. One of the clearest examples came after Colin became involved in the purchase of a retired Staten Island Ferry. Daniel’s response wasn’t simply excitement over the unusual investment. He wanted to know whether his son had properly researched what he was buying.
It’s a small anecdote, but it offers a revealing glimpse of their relationship and Daniel’s personality.
Colin Jost’s Mother Dr. Kerry Kelly
If Daniel brought education and technical training into the family, Colin’s mother brought medicine and public service.
Dr. Kerry Kelly graduated from Vassar College and later received her medical degree from Brown University. She eventually joined the New York City Fire Department as a medical officer, beginning a career that would last for decades.
Kelly rose through the department and ultimately became the FDNY’s Chief Medical Officer. Her responsibilities placed her at the center of firefighter health and occupational medicine in New York City.
That role became particularly significant following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Firefighters and other first responders who worked at and around the World Trade Center site faced serious health concerns in the years that followed. Kelly was closely involved with the medical care and monitoring of FDNY members during that period.
She retired from her FDNY leadership role in 2018 after decades of service.
Kelly’s career adds an important dimension to the Colin Jost Family story. While Colin would become associated with New York through comedy and Saturday Night Live, his mother’s connection to the city came through medicine and years of service to its firefighters.
Daniel Jost And Kerry Kelly’s Marriage
Daniel Jost and Kerry Kelly were building their professional lives when they became engaged in the 1970s. Their engagement was announced in The New York Times in October 1974, with their wedding planned for June 1975.
They went on to establish their family on Staten Island, where they raised Colin and Casey.
Their partnership wasn’t limited to home life. Over the years, Daniel and Kerry also took part in charitable, cultural, and community activities. They have been associated with Staten Island organizations and have attended events supporting New York police officers, firefighters, and their families.
Despite having two sons who built careers around humor, Daniel and Kerry came from professions that might seem far removed from comedy. Still, Colin’s stories about his parents suggest humor was hardly missing at home. Family anecdotes often show them joking with their sons and being willing participants in the lighter side of Colin’s increasingly public life.
Did Colin Jost Grow Up In A Wealthy Family?
One question frequently attached to searches for the Colin Jost Family is whether Colin grew up wealthy.
It’s easy to see where the assumption comes from. His parents were highly educated professionals. Daniel attended Brown University and MIT, while Kerry became a physician and senior FDNY medical official. Colin attended Regis High School before going to Harvard.
Those details certainly point to a household that valued education and offered strong academic opportunities. They don’t, however, establish the family’s exact financial position.
There is no authoritative public record showing Daniel A. Jost’s net worth or documenting a specific Jost family fortune. Estimates appearing on celebrity wealth websites should therefore be approached cautiously unless they’re supported by verifiable financial records.
The more accurate description is that Colin grew up in a well-educated and professionally established family. Calling the Josts wealthy as a confirmed fact goes beyond what reliable public information can demonstrate.
Colin Jost’s Staten Island Childhood
Staten Island has remained a recurring thread throughout Colin Jost’s life.
He grew up in the borough with Casey before traveling to Manhattan to attend Regis High School. That commute meant moving regularly between his quieter home borough and the much busier center of New York City.
Years later, Staten Island continued appearing in Colin’s comedy, interviews, and personal projects. Even as his career took him into national television and Hollywood circles, he never completely separated his public identity from the place where he grew up.
That connection makes his later involvement with a retired Staten Island Ferry easier to understand. On the surface, buying an enormous decommissioned ferry sounds like the kind of eccentric purchase comedians might make for a joke. For Colin, however, the vessel also represented a familiar part of his childhood and his daily journeys into Manhattan.
Colin Jost’s Brother Casey Jost
Comedy isn’t limited to one Jost brother.
Colin’s younger brother, Casey Jost, was born in 1985 and has developed a varied career as a writer, producer, performer, actor, and musician. He’s particularly associated with Impractical Jokers, the long-running comedy series built around hidden-camera challenges and improvisational humor.
Casey’s work has included substantial behind-the-scenes involvement as well as appearances in front of the camera. His career demonstrates that although both brothers ended up in comedy, they didn’t follow identical professional paths.
Colin became closely associated with Saturday Night Live, political satire, and “Weekend Update.” Casey carved out his own place in television through Impractical Jokers and related creative work.
Casey married Lisa Kleinman in 2014. Their relationship has generally attracted far less public attention than Colin’s marriage to Scarlett Johansson, which fits with Casey’s lower-profile public life.
Are Colin Jost And Casey Jost Close?
Public appearances and family stories suggest that Colin and Casey have maintained an ongoing relationship as adults.
The brothers have attended events together and have been photographed alongside their father. Their shared involvement in comedy also gives them professional common ground, even though they work in different parts of the entertainment industry.
There have also been occasions when the broader Jost family has appeared in connection with Casey’s television work, offering viewers relatively rare glimpses of Daniel, Kerry, Colin, Casey, and other family members together.
Rather than simply describing the brothers as “very close” without evidence, these public moments provide a clearer picture. They grew up together, entered related professions, and have continued appearing together at family and professional events.
Colin Jost’s Wife Scarlett Johansson
Colin Jost’s family became considerably more famous when he married Scarlett Johansson, one of Hollywood’s best-known actresses.
The two had crossed paths through Saturday Night Live, where Johansson appeared multiple times as a host. Their friendship eventually developed into a romantic relationship, which became public in 2017.
They announced their engagement in 2019 and married in 2020.
Despite the level of attention surrounding both of their careers, the couple chose an intimate approach to their wedding and have generally resisted turning their marriage into a constant source of publicity.
They do occasionally talk about one another. Colin has used their different levels of celebrity as a source of humor, while Johansson has shared selective glimpses of married and family life. Still, there is a noticeable boundary between what they discuss publicly and what they keep at home.
That distinction has become even more important since they became parents.
Colin Jost And Scarlett Johansson’s Children
Colin Jost and Scarlett Johansson welcomed their son, Cosmo, in 2021.
Cosmo is Colin’s biological son and the couple’s first child together. Johansson was already a mother when she married Jost. She shares a daughter, Rose Dorothy Dauriac, with her former husband, Romain Dauriac.
Rose is therefore part of Colin’s blended family, although she isn’t his biological daughter. Making that distinction is important because celebrity profiles sometimes group both children together as “Colin Jost’s children,” which can give readers the wrong impression.
Colin and Scarlett have been noticeably careful about their children’s privacy. Johansson has spoken publicly about wanting her children to have the opportunity to grow up without unnecessary exposure and eventually make their own decisions about public attention.
As a result, there is relatively little verified information about Cosmo and Rose compared with children from celebrity families whose lives are frequently documented online. That privacy shouldn’t be mistaken for a lack of family involvement. It simply reflects a deliberate decision by their parents to keep childhood separate from celebrity.
Colin Jost And The Staten Island Ferry Story
Few stories connect Colin’s childhood, his father, and his adult career as neatly as the Staten Island Ferry purchase.
In 2022, Colin Jost, fellow Staten Island comedian Pete Davidson, and other investors became involved in purchasing the decommissioned ferry John F. Kennedy at auction for $280,100.
The purchase quickly made headlines. An enormous retired ferry isn’t exactly a conventional investment, and the involvement of two comedians naturally added to the curiosity.
For Colin, though, there was a personal connection. Staten Island ferries had been part of the landscape of his youth and his trips between the borough and Manhattan.
His father’s response to the purchase added another layer to the story. Colin has recalled Daniel asking whether he’d done his homework before committing to the investment. It was a practical reaction to a decidedly unusual idea and one that seems consistent with Daniel’s background as an educator.
The story is amusing, but it’s also revealing. Even after Colin became a successful television personality, his father’s instinct was apparently still to make sure he’d thought things through.
The Jost Family’s Community Connections
The Jost family has longstanding ties to Staten Island that extend beyond simply living there.
Daniel and Kerry have participated in cultural and charitable activities, including events connected with the Staten Island Museum. They have also appeared at benefits supporting the families of New York police officers and firefighters.
Kerry’s relationship with the FDNY goes much deeper than charitable involvement. Her decades-long medical career placed her directly inside the department, where she was responsible for issues affecting firefighter health.
Colin has appeared with his parents at some community and charity events as well, creating a connection between his public profile and causes that mattered to his family long before he became famous.
Taken together, those experiences make the Josts difficult to describe as simply a “celebrity family.” Their story includes engineering, education, medicine, public service, community involvement, and two separate careers in comedy.
Where Is The Colin Jost Family Today?
As of 2026, Colin remains active in entertainment while balancing his public career with a comparatively private home life.
He and Scarlett Johansson continue raising their son, Cosmo, while maintaining clear boundaries around what they reveal about their children. Johansson’s daughter, Rose, is also part of their blended family.
Casey Jost continues his work in comedy and television, maintaining the entertainment connection shared by the two brothers while following a career distinct from Colin’s.
Daniel Jost and Dr. Kerry Kelly, meanwhile, have never tried to turn their son’s fame into celebrity careers of their own. Their public profiles remain tied primarily to their professional histories, community involvement, and occasional appearances with Colin and Casey.
For all the changes brought by fame, one part of the family’s identity has remained remarkably consistent: New York, and Staten Island in particular, continues to connect much of their story.
Final Thoughts
The Colin Jost Family story becomes more interesting once the focus moves beyond celebrity. Colin may be the family’s most recognizable member, and his marriage to Scarlett Johansson inevitably attracts attention, but his background is rooted in a household that had already achieved plenty before television fame entered the picture.
His father, Daniel A. Jost, brought an academic and educational background shaped by Brown University, MIT, and teaching. His mother, Dr. Kerry Kelly, devoted decades of her career to medicine and the health of New York City firefighters. Their younger son, Casey Jost, later found his own way into entertainment, building a comedy career separate from his older brother’s work at Saturday Night Live.
Colin’s family expanded again when he married Johansson in 2020. Their son, Cosmo, arrived in 2021, while Johansson’s daughter, Rose, from her previous marriage is part of their blended household. The couple’s decision to protect their children’s privacy has kept much of that family life away from cameras and social media.
Through all those chapters, Staten Island remains a common thread. It’s where Colin and Casey grew up, where their parents built important parts of their professional and community lives, and where Colin developed memories that followed him into adulthood. Even his unusual investment in a retired Staten Island Ferry eventually brought the story back to his childhood—and prompted some characteristically practical advice from his father.
Behind Colin Jost’s television career and high-profile marriage, then, is a broader family story shaped by education, medicine, public service, comedy, and a lasting connection to New York.
FAQs About Colin Jost Family
Who Are Colin Jost’s Parents?
Colin Jost’s parents are Daniel A. Jost and Dr. Kerry Kelly. Daniel studied at Brown University and pursued graduate studies in civil engineering at MIT before working in education. Kerry became a physician and spent decades with the New York City Fire Department, eventually serving as FDNY Chief Medical Officer.
Who Is Colin Jost’s Brother?
Colin’s younger brother is Casey Jost, a writer, producer, performer, actor, and musician. Casey is especially known for his involvement with Impractical Jokers. Although both brothers work in comedy, they’ve developed separate careers within the entertainment industry.
Who Is Colin Jost Married To?
Colin Jost is married to actress Scarlett Johansson. Their relationship became public in 2017, they announced their engagement in 2019, and they married in 2020. Despite their high-profile careers, they’ve kept much of their marriage and home life private.
How Many Children Does Colin Jost Have?
Colin Jost has one publicly known biological child, his son Cosmo, whom he shares with Scarlett Johansson. Cosmo was born in 2021. Johansson also has a daughter, Rose Dorothy Dauriac, from her previous marriage to Romain Dauriac, making Colin part of a blended family.
What Did Colin Jost’s Father Do?
Daniel A. Jost has an academic background that includes Brown University and graduate studies in civil engineering at MIT. He later worked in education on Staten Island and became involved with local cultural and community organizations.
What Did Colin Jost’s Mother Do?
Dr. Kerry Kelly built a long career in medicine with the New York City Fire Department. She eventually served as the FDNY’s Chief Medical Officer and played an important role in firefighter health, including during the years following the September 11 attacks.
Where Did Colin Jost Grow Up?
Colin Jost grew up on Staten Island, New York, with his parents and younger brother Casey. He later traveled to Manhattan to attend Regis High School before studying at Harvard University.
Is Colin Jost From A Wealthy Family?
Reliable sources show that Colin grew up in a highly educated and professionally accomplished household. However, there isn’t enough authoritative financial information to establish the Jost family’s exact wealth. Specific online estimates of Daniel Jost net worth shouldn’t be treated as confirmed facts without supporting financial evidence.
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