Jo Koy has revealed one of the jokes he regrets having told at Sunday's 81st Golden Globe Awards, after his hosting efforts were seen largely falling flat at the star-studded ceremony.
The comedian took on the coveted role, as the past year's TV and movie projects were feted at the ceremony's usual Beverly Hills venue, the Beverly Hilton. As he playfully poked fun at a host of the night's attendees—including Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep, and Margot Robbie—the tepid reactions in the grand ballroom made some parts of the monologue painful to watch, according to viewers.
In his 10-minute opener, Koy was aware that some of his jokes failed to land, raising scattered laughs as he quipped that he was a last-minute choice as host.
"Yo, I got the gig 10 days ago," Koy, who was announced as presenter on December 21, told the audience. "You want a perfect monologue? Yo, shut up. You're kidding me, right? Slow down. I wrote some of these [jokes], and they're the ones you're laughing at."
Elsewhere during the show, Koy also appeared to leave Taylor Swift unimpressed when he cracked a joke about her romance with NFL star Travis Kelce.
"The big difference between the Golden Globes and the NFL? At the Golden Globes, we have fewer camera shots of Taylor Swift," Koy said on the stage, in reference to the incessant coverage of the singer's presence at games.
However, it was clear that Swift didn't appreciate the quip, as she was seen looking stone-faced while taking a sip of her drink. The moment has since become a meme.
The moment is also one of Joy's regrets from the show, as he admitted during an appearance on ABC's GM3 the morning after.
"It was a weird joke, I guess. But it was more on the NFL," Koy explained. "I was trying to make fun of the NFL using cutaways and how the Globes didn't have to do that. So it was more of a jab towards the NFL; it just didn't come out that way."
Elsewhere, Koy said that he "had fun" as host of the show and that the experience was something he would "always remember." Following a pause, however, he added: "It's a tough room. It was a hard job. I'm not gonna lie. Getting that gig and then having the amount of time that we had to prepare, that was a crash course."
Sunday's ceremony was the first Golden Globes show since the Hollywood Foreign Press Association disbanded in 2023. All of the governing body's rights and properties related to the Golden Globe Awards were subsequently acquired by Dick Clark Productions and Eldridge Industries.
"It was a long journey and the opportunity came," Koy told GMA3 of being drafted in for the show. "No one knew where the Golden Globes was going to be and then last second, CBS picked up the show and everyone kinda turned down the offer because of the time, and I jumped on it. I was like, you know what, let's try, let's go for it. Let's see what we can do in 10 days."
During his interview, Koy also admitted that he was "hurt" by the fact that TV critics were largely united in their deflating assessments of his performance at the Golden Globes, which has long been seen as a defining precursor to the Academy Awards.
"I'd be lying if it doesn't hurt," he said. "I hit a little moment there [onstage] where I was just like, 'Ah.' Hosting is a tough gig. Yes, I am a stand-up comic, but that hosting position is a different style. It's not the same style."
After blaming the writers for the quality of his jokes on the night, Koy's post-show words were less cutting.
"So I kind of went in and did the whole writers thing; we were all in that room together," he recalled. "We just had 10 days to try and write something for this monologue. It was a crash course. I feel bad, but I gotta say that I still loved what I did."
As for whether, he would host the show again, Koy said: "That's a tough gig, I'm not gonna lie. I really love the art of stand-up and it was cool that the opportunity came to me. Hosting is just a beast... and the crash course was really hard, too."
He explained that he "literally got the call and haven't slept since, just trying to write something, just trying to write what we had to write. And the guys were great. Everyone was great. It's just... that was that night. I had an off night!"
"I wanted to give a little bit more of me, and I just fell a little short and that's all," Koy added.
See Koy's full Golden Globe Awards monologue here.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Ryan Smith is a Newsweek Senior Pop Culture and Entertainment Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on ... Read more
