Chelsea Handler Makes Dig at Ex-Boyfriend Jo Koy's Disastrous Globes Set

Chelsea Handler and Jo Koy

Chelsea Handler has subtly weighed in on ex-boyfriend Jo Koy's widely-panned Golden Globes monologue, which drew the wrath of Taylor Swift and opinionated Days of Our Lives star Deidre Hall alike. While opening as host of the Critics Choice Awards on Sunday night, the Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea author dropped a joke in her monologue about Martin Scorsese ("I would toss him around like a little Italian meatball"), then told the audience, “Thank you for laughing at that, my writers wrote it.”

Related: See the List of Critics Choice Awards Nominees

The comment was a reference to Koy's now infamous outburst during his 2024 Golden Globes monologue, and a well-received dig at his decision to throw his writers under the bus for a Barbie "boobies" joke that bombed. “Yo, I got the gig 10 days ago, you want a perfect monologue?” he said. “Yo, shut up. You’re kidding me, right? Slow down. I wrote some of these, and they’re the ones you’re laughing at.”

Handler and Koy were friends for two decades prior to going public with their relationship in September 2021, and fans were heavily invested in their love story.

“For everyone who is still looking for their person, do not adjust who you are or make yourself smaller to find them. Be patient and never settle for anything less than you deserve,” an uncharacteristically gushing Handler wrote on Instagram in November 2021. “Your person is coming and sometimes—they’ve been standing in front of you the whole time.”

Alas, the couple split less than a year later, sharing the news on their PDA platform-of-choice, Instagram. "It is with a heavy heart [we] announce that we have decided together that it is best for us to take a break from our relationship right now," Handler wrote. "...To be loved and adored by @jokoy has been one of the greatest gifts of my life. He renewed my faith in men, in love, in being 100% who I am, and I've never been more optimistic for the future."

Given Handler's very public romance with (and split from) Koy, fans have been waiting to see whether she would comment on his disastrous showing at the Globes. Now they have their answer.

Related: Steve Martin Defends Jo Koy

For his part, Koy recently addressed his hosting gig at a stand-up show in St. Louis—his first set since the night of the Globes.  "Lotta marshmallows, man. They're delicious, but godd-mn, they're soft," he reportedly said, referring to the ceremony's star crowd. "I just come from a different time. I see the changes that are happening. I get it, but godd-mn, can we f---ing laugh at ourselves?"

He'd previously taken a much more conciliatory approach, particularly regarding his Swift joke—in which he said that the Globes would have fewer cutaways to the pop star than an NFL game—in a post-Globes interview with GMA3.

“It was a weird joke, I guess," he said. “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," he said.

Overall, he admitted to feeling "hurt" by the harsh criticism he received for his performance. “I’d be lying if [I said] it doesn’t hurt," he said. "Hosting is just a tough gig."

Next, 'The View' Co-Hosts Suggest People 'Get a Sense of Humor' While Defending Jo Koy