Jo Koy Responds to Golden Globes Backlash and That Icy Taylor Swift Moment

Summary

• Golden Globes host Jo Koy faced backlash for his jokes and sideswipes at famous faces, including Taylor Swift.
• Koy admitted that hosting the awards was tougher than he expected, but he still enjoyed the experience.
• Koy expressed reluctance to host the Golden Globes again, describing it as a challenging gig.

Hosting any awards ceremony requires nerves of steel, the skin of a rhino and the understanding that you will face some tough online reactions in the days that follow. This is something that Golden Globes host Jo Koy has discovered following his opening monolog at the last night’s event, as his jokes and sideswipes at some of the famous faces in the room did not hit the mark for many critics, audiences…and Taylor Swift.

Following in the footsteps of Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, Tina Fey and five-times host Ricky Gervais, Koy didn’t have to wait very long for the backlash to start, as he took aim at Taylor Swift with a quip noting how the Golden Globes were airing just after a football game featuring the Kansas City Chiefs, the team that Swift has become linked with due to her relationship with Travis Kelce. Koy said in the show:

As you know, we came on after a football doubleheader. The big difference between the Golden Globes and the NFL? On the Golden Globes, we have fewer camera shots of Taylor Swift, I swear.

Cue a quick cut to Swift, sipping her drink and looking not too impressed. Which in turn led to Swift’s fans airing their grievances online, providing the first wave of attacks on Koy’s hosting abilities.

Koy did have his chance to respond to the harsh reactions he had suffered as a result of hosting the show, appearing on GMA3: What You Need to Know and admitting that he was perhaps not quite prepared for how tough presenting the awards would be. He said:

“I had fun. You know, it was a moment that I’ll always remember. It’s a tough room. It was a hard job, I’m not going to lie…I’d be lying if [I said] it doesn’t hurt. I hit a moment there where I was like, ‘Ah.’ Hosting is just a tough gig. Yes, I’m a stand-up comic but that hosting position it’s a different style. I kind of went in and did the writer’s thing. We had 10 days to write this monologue. It was a crash course. I feel bad, but I got to still say I loved what I did.”

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Jo Koy Doesn’t Seem Keen on Hosting The Golden Globes Again

Universal Pictures

What comes across clearly from Koy’s post-event analysis of his performance is his reluctance to potentially return for more next year. When asked whether he would consider stepping back into the role again, Koy said:

“That’s a tough gig, I’m not going to lie. I love the art of standup. It was cool the opportunity came to me, but hosting is just a beast. That’s about it.”

Returning to that Taylor Swift moment, Koy singled out that one joke as a moment he wasn’t particularly happy with, commenting that the whole thing was “a little flat” and “weird.” His intention had been to make fun of the NFL’s constant use of cutaways, which is something he didn’t feel the Golden Globes needed to do, but cutting straight to Swift changed the way the joke was received.

In defense of his performance, Koy did go to great lengths to point out that he had only been given the hosting job 10 days ago, and that meant some of the material was his and some was written by others. During the telecast, Koy followed up one dud line by saying:

“Some [jokes] I wrote, some other people wrote. 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.”

You can check out the full opening monolog below.

You can view the original article HERE.