Jo Koy Says Dissing His Golden Globes Writers on Stage Was a Rookie Move, Confronts B

July 2024 · 7 minute read

Jo Koy is once again weighing in on his divisive stint hosting the 2024 Golden Globes, which received mostly negative reviews from critics and viewers. After previously telling “GMA 3” that he “fell a little short” as host and had an “off night,” the stand-up comedian now joined the Los Angeles Times to weigh in on the biggest controversies generated by his hosting job. Per The Times: Koy was hired 10 days before the awards ceremony, his writing staff wasn’t picked until “eight days before the show,” they all met in person “two days before” and “the monologue was done the day before.”

“We were still writing up until they said we’re live,” Koy said. “Absolute cold reads, never got a chance to work out anything. And this is not an excuse, I’m just trying to paint the picture because I don’t think people understand, in any situation, how is that geared towards winning? If you were to write that situation down on a piece of paper and go, ‘Do you want to do this?’ I guarantee everyone would be like ‘No.’ I’m happy I did it because I did accept that challenge.”

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Koy’s monologue proved most divisive. He was accused of being sexist due to a joke in which he compared Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” and Gerwig’s “Barbie.”

“‘Oppenheimer’ is based on the 721-page Pulitzer Prize-winning book about the Manhattan Project — and ‘Barbie’ is about a plastic doll with big boobies,” he said as the audience responded with a muted laugh. Given that “Barbie” actively fights against gender stereotypes, many Golden Globes viewers found Koy’s joke to be tasteless and reductive. Gerwig wasn’t too phased by the joke, telling BBC Radio 4 Today a few days after the ceremony: “Well, he’s not wrong. She’s the first doll that was mass-produced with breasts, so he was right on.”

“The reaction to the Barbie joke. The things that are being said, it’s just like, man, I don’t think you understand who I am as a person, you know what I mean?” Koy told the LA Times. “Because if you’ve ever seen me, you’ll see just how much I praise and shine light on women, from my ex-wife to my mom.”

“I’m telling a joke — what happened to society where we can’t even joke with each other anymore,” he continued. “I bought the movie. I supported the movie. Yes, that’s the story that that doll needed. And I’m glad because now there’s people that look like my mom that can support that.”

Koy was also accused of throwing his writers under the bus during his monologue after several jokes fell flat. “Some I wrote, some other people wrote,” he told the audience. “Yes, I got the gig 10 days ago! You want a perfect monologue? Yo, shut up. You’re kidding me right? Slow down, I wrote some of these and they are the ones you are laughing at.”

“I love my writers. I love all three of them and I shouted them out. And I told them like that was a moment right there where I’m just grasping,” Koy now told the Times. “I love them and I can’t stop talking about them in every interview. They busted their ass, man. There’s a lot of greats that make rookie moves. That was a rookie move. Those writers are dope and that was not my intention at all. They were amazing, they had my back and I need to make sure I fix that and I will, I always will.”

“It’s so crazy because the day before, we were all sitting right here, it was the first time we all met in person, the day before we had to turn in that monologue,” he continued. “One time, that’s all we had. It was the most insane thing.”

Koy previously told “GMA 3” that his controversial Taylor Swift joke, in which he said the Globes would not be cutting to her as much as the NFL does during Kansas City Chiefs game, was “a little flat” and “weird.” While reviews were mostly negative, Koy has earned support from fellow comedians and award show hosts like Steve Martin and Whoopi Goldberg.

“I tip my hat to anyone who steps out on stage to host a live awards show,” Martin wrote on Threads having hosted the Academy Awards three times. “It’s a very difficult job…So, congratulations to Jo Koy, who took on the toughest gig in show business, hit, missed, was light on his feet, and now has twenty minutes of new material for his stand up!”

Goldberg, an EGOT winner and a four-time host of the Academy Awards, added on “The View”: “Hosting gigs are brutal. If you’ve not been in these rooms before, and you’re sort of thrust out there, it’s hit or miss. I don’t know if it was the room. I don’t know whether it was the jokes. I didn’t get to see it. But I do know that he is as good as it gets when it comes to stand-up.”

Head over to the Los Angeles Times’ website to read Koy’s latest interview in its entirety.

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