Koy’s hosting tarnishes Golden Globes event

Another scandal recently struck the internet, this time at a surprising event: The Golden Globes. The recent award show was filled with nominees and movies that made 2023 a year to remember. Unfortunately, the potential of this award show diminished as soon as Jo Koy, one of the hosts, opened his mouth on stage. From misogynistic comments to unamusing jokes, Koy threw a bucket of cold water on the heat of a highly anticipated award show. The real question: is Jo Koy really jo-king?

Koy’s jokes began as lukewarm attempts that just didn’t hit with the audience, but he gradually got more controversial as his emcee gig progressed (and he perhaps became more desperate). In one joke, Koy praised box-office-hit, Oppenheimer, pointing out that it’s “based on a 721-page Pulitzer Prize-winning book about the Manhattan Project,” which is fine enough on its own. That is, until the Barbie movie comparisons began.

“Barbie is a plastic doll with big boobies,” Koy joked, much to the audience's dismay. This jab at the Barbie movie was completely unnecessary, and, frankly, contradicted the primary message of the film. With her film, Greta Gerwig intended to show that women are so much more than what the world wants them to be, and she attempted to bring light to the fact that women have to put up with so much disrespect because of both men and society’s expectations. Koy’s distasteful remark proves the objectification women face, even at such a highly esteemed event such as this.

As if the joke wasn’t weird enough, Koy jokingly added that he feels attracted to a plastic doll, referring to Ken’s actor, Ryan Gosling. Awkward laughs crowded the room, and the camera panned to Gosling, who is clearly unamused. The internet rushed to applaud Gosling’s boldness and “bravery,” for not reacting to Koy’s strange comments. While Gosling’s face truly described how everyone was feeling that night, it’s unnecessary to praise him in the days following the event for doing the bare minimum.

On the other hand, Taylor Swift was another target of Koy’s jokes, as he said, “The big difference between the Golden Globes and the NFL? At the Golden Globes, we have fewer camera shots of Taylor Swift.” Koy was commenting on the recent publicity Swift has gotten at NFL games because of her new partner, Travis Kelce.

As Swift says, “the joke’s weren’t funny,” and she truly means it. Though this comment wasn’t necessarily the rudest thing Swift has heard, it was certainly distasteful and worn out. Once Koy shared the joke, the camera faced Swift and she simply took a sip of her drink in response, looking unamused. This clip spread like wildfire across the internet, and many have had strong opinions over the simple action. While some of Swift’s fans jumped to attack Koy, others were irritated by her action, claiming that she was “overreacting”.

This negative attention toward Swift really proves the unbearable double standards that exist between men and women. Though both celebrities had similar reactions to their respective jokes, Swift was highly criticized, whereas Gosling was being praised and admired. Swift consistently highlights this issue in her songs, especially in “The Man,” which is all about the disadvantages women face in a society built by men, for men. Those that claim Swift is being dramatic and needs to learn to “take a joke” need a reality check. What is the difference between the reactions of Swift and Gosling? Absolutely nothing.

After many more awkward, classless jokes, Koy realized that he wasn’t appealing to the audience, and rushed to defend himself, saying, “I got the gig 10 days ago! You want a perfect monologue? Shut up! I wrote some of these [jokes], and they’re the ones you’re laughing at.”

Clearly, Koy was anxiously looking for someone else to blame for his unpopular attempts at humor. He did this in a very unprofessional way, showing his lack of maturity and preparation for this large event. Many feel that 10 days is plenty of time for one to come up with jokes that are more appropriate and actually funny for the event’s audience, which is filled with some of the biggest celebrities of all time. Perhaps Koy should take notes from Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig, whose act had the audience genuinely cracking up, rather than offering pity-laughs, and did it at no one’s expense.

Though the Golden Globes turned out to be quite the trainwreck, it came out with an important lesson for everyone, especially for those that find the jokes to be amusing: hosts should be able to display their comedic abilities without bringing down and shaming others.

by Haniya Mecci

Published January 29 2024

Oshkosh West Index Volume 120 Issue IV