The 81st Golden Globes was an event filled with remarkable fashion, celebrity, and incredible cinematography. However, the one thing that no one can stop talking about is host Jo Koy’s monologue, which completely bombed at the event.
While some are saying that Jo Koy is a nobody, if you are familiar with the world of stand up comedy, you may know who he is. He has a few Netflix comedy specials such as Comin In Hot and In His Elements, but the world of stand-up does not attract as much attention as Hollywood or the music industry does, so unless you are well known like Kevin Hart, Chris Rock, Tina Fey or Amy Schumer, the general public probably does not know who you are.
Jo Koy’s monologue at the Golden Globes has been described by critics as “painful,” “cringeworthy,” and “unfunny,” all for good reason. His jokes were not humorous so they did not land, so he resorted to low blows and blamed his writers in an attempt to save his crashing monologue.
And while Koy had little time and did not write all of the sloppy jokes, he still read the jokes and decided that they were okay to perform at the Golden Globes. He made a conscious decision to perform them, even if they were insulting or just an example of atrocious comedy. Koy is also used to stand up comedy in front of a stage with people who paid to hear his jokes, and hosting an award show is obviously very different. But what is inexcusable is his sexist and immature jokes made at the event.
And while he did not have much time to prepare for the event, it is his job as a comedian to come up with solid, hilarious jokes. If he could not write a decent monologue, he should not have accepted the job of hosting the 81st Golden Globes.
Koy turned to blatant sexism, attacking Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, comparing and belittling the film to Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer.
“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,” he said during his monologue. “The key moment in Barbie is when she goes from perfect beauty to bad breath, cellulite, and flat feet. Or what casting directors call character actor!”
Koy’s disgusting joke fell flat at the Globes, and rightfully so. There is no truth behind the joke, and therefore it is not funny. Koy did not tell jokes the night of the Golden Globes, he just hurled insults out at movies that clearly went over his head. Barbie is a remarkable film about feminism, the pressure women feel, and how hard it is for women to live in a world dominated by men. Koy only supported the message of Barbie with his pathetic attempt at a joke.
Grace Balkowski ‘26 said, “I was honestly at a loss for words while watching Jo Koy open the Golden Globes in real time. His commentary was not only distasteful, but also cringy to watch when the only laughter we heard was coming from his own mic. Award shows are no stranger to controversial moments, but I think Koy’s hosting trumps them all. His sexist joke comparing the Barbie movie to Oppenheimer proves why movies like Barbie need to be made—and obviously need to be better understood.”
What makes pointed or “mean” jokes funny is an element of truth or significance behind the joke. We laugh at pointed jokes to get through bad times. Sometimes you can be mean if you can be funny in a joke, because at the end of the day you know it is just to make you laugh. There is a major difference between a “mean” joke and a flat out disrespectful one. Award-winning comedian Ricky Gervais, host of multiple Golden Globes, illustrates this point exceptionally well. Koy could learn a few things from the British Office star.
Julia Burdick ‘26 said, “To undermine a stunning movie that described the beauty and difficulty of the life of a woman and to minimize women to their physical appearance in an inappropriate joke is completely disgusting. What Greta Gerwig worked so hard to convey obviously went straight over Jo Koy’s head, whether the joke was genuine or not.”
Barbie is a phenomenal piece of cinematography and female history, and to have Koy’s mediocre monologue diminish it to a despicable, distasteful, and ultimately immature joke is a colossal disappointment to the night of the 81st Golden Globes.
He even took a low blow at beloved Taylor Swift, a bold move for anyone, but especially a comedian in a room full of celebrities and most likely fans.
Koy said, “As you know, we came on after a football doubleheader,” Koy said during the 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.”
But the joke simply wasn’t funny, so it fell flat. It lacked any real purpose or comedy. The camera even panned to Taylor Swift, who sipped her drink, clearly unamused, just like the rest of us watching the event from our own TV’s.
What makes Koy’s monologue even worse in addition to his sexism and disrespect is the fact that it was poorly written and unfunny. The pathetic, sexist jabs fell flat, but so did every other joke. When the camera panned to the audience, you can see many celebrities unamused at the monologue. The true hero of the night was whoever was playing the laugh track, because that room was void of any genuine laughter the night of the 81st Golden Globes.
So is Jo Koy’s career over before it could ever really begin? The internet’s current victim of cancel culture is facing severe backlash for his monologue, so it certainly looks that way. Koy’s monologue can only be described as a pathetic attempt at comedy, and for that reason, the experience of watching Jo Koy host the 81st Golden Globes will go down in Hollywood history as a crude and inadequate attempt at comedy.
