Golden Globes Host Jo Koy Confronts Bad Reviews, Admits Taylor Swift Joke Was ‘Weird’ and ‘Flat’: ‘I’d Be Lying’ If I Said Backlash ‘Doesn’t Hurt’

Jo Koy appeared on “GMA3: What You Need to Know” and reacted to the overwhelmingly negative reviews he received as the host of the 2024 Golden Globes. The comedian admitted that backlash to his hosting duties hurts a bit. Variety’s television critic Alison Herman panned Koy as “woefully unqualified” to be an awards show host.

“I had fun. You know, it was a moment that I’ll always remember,” Koy said the morning after the Globes. “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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Koy admitted that his joke related to Taylor Swift was “a little flat.” The comedian earned backlash during the telecast for targeting Swift with a joke about how the Golden Globes ceremony aired on CBS right after a football game featuring the Kansas City Chiefs, a team Swift is now synonymous with given her relationship to tight end Travis Kelce.

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

The camera then cut to Swift in the audience, who appeared unamused and sipped from her drink.

When asked if there were any Globes moments that he felt bad about, Koy told “GMA 3”: “I think it was when the Taylor [Swift] one was just a little flat…It was a weird joke, I guess. But it was more on the NFL…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 toward the NFL. But it just didn’t come out that way.”

Given the reception, Koy is not feeling like he’d immediately jump back into being an awards host. “That’s a tough gig, I’m not going to lie,” he said when asked if he’d host the Globes again. “I love the art of standup. It was cool the opportunity came to me, but hosting is just a beast. That’s about it.”

Koy went on to say he had an “off night” and admitted to being a little deflated by the reaction. “I wanted to give a little bit more of me, and I fell a little short. That’s all,” he said.

Koy’s opening monologue was met with mixed reviews. He continually told viewers that he had only signed up for the hosting job 10 days ago, which is why some of his material might not have been top notch.

“Some [jokes] I wrote, some other people wrote,” the standup comedian said after one of his lines fell flat. “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.”

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