Joseph Glenn Herbert, formally known as “Jo Koy” is a comedian and actor. He has been featured on several Netflix Comedy Specials and was a frequent panelist on E!’s late night show with Chelsea Lately. I personally did not know him from any of these past projects, but his role as the host of this year’s Golden Globes has put a spotlight on him. Jo Koy and the acclaimed event itself, have been widely discussed since the Golden Globes premiere on January 7th, 2024. There is a lot of controversy surrounding his choice of jokes at the show, and the many members of the audience were shocked upon hearing them. I want to highlight two of the main jokes he was slandered over: The Barbie Movie and Taylor Swift.
One of the most noteworthy jokes of the night is the Oppenheimer/Barbie joke. He stated, “Oppenheimer is based on a 721-page Pulitzer Prize-winning book about the Manhattan Project, and Barbie is on a plastic doll with big boobies.” The movies aired on the same day but that is pretty much the only thing they have in common. To even compare these two masterpieces in this way was just not a smart decision on his part. I can see why he thought it would be funny since he looked at the Barbie movie strictly on the surface. However, the main reason why the world fell in love with this movie was because of the beautiful message it conveyed to viewers, specifically from America Ferrera’s monologue in the movie. I understand that not everyone wants to dig down deep and look at movies as their whole picture and meaning, but when you are at the Golden Globes– an award show specifically dedicated to movies and tv shows– you would think that one would not be ignorant enough to make a petty joke about a widely beloved movie, especially in front of the director and the actors. He even went as far as to say, “I don’t want you guys to think that I’m a creep, but it was kind of weird being attracted to a plastic doll.” “It’s just something about your eyes, Ryan.” He saved the joke by bringing Ryan Gosling into it on the spot, but if he did not do that the joke could have spiraled and twisted into an even worse mess just because of the context of it all. These were not the only distasteful jokes from the night.
He also decided to take a jab at singer and songwriter Taylor Swift. She has been in the spotlight a lot recently due to her relationship with Travis Kelce. Lots of reporters have made jokes about her presence at games and cheering him on, but Jo Koy decided to make one as well at the Golden Globes: “ The big difference between the Golden Globes and the NFL? On the Golden Globes, we have fewer camera shots of Taylor Swift, I swear” Yes, he went there. The Swifties did not like this one especially after seeing her unamused reaction from it; they did make sure to attack him after the premiere. I do feel bad for Taylor because she was just a guest at the Golden Globes and he still managed to make a joke to yet again bring her into the spotlight when I do not think she was trying in any way to bring too much attention to herself.
I write this taking into consideration that he is a comedian and usually they will tell some inappropriate or even unfunny jokes just for the comedy of it all. However, Jo Koy did not seem to read the room sometimes with his jokes and did not always get the outcome he expected from them. It can be seen as people “not taking the joke” or you could look into the deeper context and just see that the jokes were just not funny– at least not to this audience and to a lot of the audience at home watching. He should not host the Golden Globes again, but I am sure he can find the right audience for the kinds of jokes he wants to tell. After all, hosting is not his usual element; he hosts lots of shows that people come and pay to see him.
