Stand up comedian and actor Jo Koy is receiving backlash after several jokes from his opening monologue at the 2024 Golden Globes in early January were deemed offensive for their chauvinistic focus.
Koy, whose real name is Joseph Herbert, has been called misogynistic and insensitive after viewers and attendees found several jokes about celebrities and movies such as Barbie and Oppenheimer to be insensitive or disrespectful.
Koy’s monologue began with a comparison of the two aforementioned films as they were released and trending at similar times.
Koy’s joke was, “Oppenheimer is based on the 721-page Pulitzer Prize-winning book about the Manhattan Project — and Barbie is about a plastic doll with big boobies.”
This joke was not received well by the audience or viewers at home. The camera was panned to the cast of Barbie, who was seen either nodding or with no expression. Many claim this joke was so offensive due to the nature of the movie, in which the theme revolves around challenges women face.
“For the amount of progress we [women] have made this year, it’s insane to see how it can be belittled in one night by a man trying to turn it into the butt of a joke,” NHS junior Maddie Griffin said.
Koy was selected to write and perform the monologue on December 21, less than a month before the show. He defended himself to the audience by mentioning this after his jokes were met with boos and very little laughter.
“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,” Koy said.
Another controversial joke was made in regards to Taylor Swift’s relationship with Travis Kelce. The camera panned to Swift, who took a sip of her drink in response. Many viewers took to the internet to discuss or criticize this joke.
“The big difference between the Golden Globes and the NFL? At the Golden Globes, we have fewer camera shots of Taylor Swift,” Koy said.
Later, Koy addressed the joke to The Los Angeles Times.
"What hurts the most is me just supporting Taylor, I support her, I love her work. I got nieces that I bought tickets for,” Koy said.
“There’s no ill intent in that joke. The joke is about the NFL and how they keep using cutaways to [her],"
Despite its controversy, others enjoyed Koy’s performance, as past comedians have also had an offensive nature to their monologue. During the 2022 Academy Awards, Will Smith slapped Chris Rock in response to a joke made about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. Multi time Golden Globe host Ricky Gervais made a joke about Caitlyn Jenner, with her pre-transition name being the punchline. Many viewers agreed that this was offensive and inappropriate as well.
Several other jokes were made about Barbie and the movies leads Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling.
“I don’t want you guys to think I’m a creep, but it was weird being attracted to a plastic doll,” Koy said.
He followed this up by saying, “Just something about your eyes Ryan.”
It has been debated whether the second half of the joke was originally a part of it, or if it was added in an attempt to cover up a bad reaction. Either way, both versions have been called insensitive, or just unfunny.
Many NHS students and viewers of the Golden Globes agree that this year's jokes contained a more consistent and specific nature of being offensive towards women. People claim many large accomplishments women made this year were discredited by his monologue.
“I don’t think I smiled once through Jo Koy’s entire performance, his attempt to save himself at the end just seemed pathetic, ” NHS jJunior Zoey Lehecka said.
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