Just when you think tired and misogynistic jokes at awards shows have had their heyday, a male comedian lands the role of host and disappoints us all over again. And, sadly, Jo Koy at the Golden Globes 2024 was no different.
Jo Koy – the first time and last minute Golden Globes host, best known for being a regular panelist on Chelsea Handler's show Chelsea Lately! – managed to offend a large proportion of his celebrity audience in his opening monologue. So much so that he got booed for it. And then, he blamed his writers.
When he started to sense that his jokes were going down like off milk, he said 'I got the gig 10 days ago! You want a perfect monologue?' before adding, 'some I wrote, some other people wrote. I wrote some of these and those are the ones you're laughing at.'
One of his least popular lines was, 'Oppenheimer is based on a 721-page, Pulitzer Prize-winning book about the Manhattan Project. And Barbie is based on a plastic doll with big boobies.' The camera then panned to Greta Gerwig who looked in disbelief. Jo Koy then seemed to lose more and more of the audience (both at the Golden Globes and at home) with every breath.
Culture critic Sam Sanders joked on X (Twitter), 'Was Jo Koy fired mid-broadcast?' The consensus online very much seems to be that the speech was a flop, with many people joking that the comedian is unlikely the gig again.
What jokes did Jo Koy make in his Golden Globes monologue?
If you don't plan to watch the excruciating 10-minute monologue back yourself, here's a taster of some of Jo Koy's gags from the show. Yes, it includes jokes about Taylor Swift (sigh), Barbie, Ozempic, Meghan Markle and the duration of Oppenheimer.
'The big difference between the Golden Globes and the NFL? On the Golden Globes, we have fewer camera shots of Taylor Swift... there’s just more to go to here.' The camera then panned to Taylor Swift, who looked highly unimpressed and took a big swig of her red wine.
'Robert De Niro, your last performance is your greatest performance – how’d you get her pregnant at at 80?'
'White people stole everything,' he said referring to Killers of the Flower Moon. “'ou took the land and the oil and you took the premise of the movie.'
'Meghan Markle get paid millions of dollars for doing absolutely nothing – and that’s just by Netflix.'
'I loved Oppenheimer, it just needed another hour. … My new year’s resolution in 2024 is to finish Oppenheimer by 2025. … I love Oppenheimer, especially the first season.'
'Saltburn, you know what I loved about Saltburn? Satanic families have feelings too. [Barry Keoghan’s penis] was the real star of the show. … Oh there it is, on Bradley Cooper’s face.'