If you’ve seen any news or opened any social media since watching the Golden Globes, you’re probably familiar with the level of national hatred for a comedian most had never before heard of: Jo Koy. 

But, if you haven’t heard, “comedian” Jo Koy hosted the 81st Annual Golden Globe Award Show on January 7, 2024, and many of the celebrities in the crowd did not think he was amusing, nor did most of the nation. If you think I’m exaggerating, watch the clips with the laugh track removed – it is genuinely sad. 

The silence at the Golden Globes spoke for itself; Koy was not funny or appealing to this audience. Maybe his “boobies” joke would’ve erupted some giggles in a twelve-year-old boy, but his miss of a monologue was filled with more misogyny than a middle school locker room.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, in typical masculine weaponized incompetence fashion, Koy said, “Oppenheimer is based on a 721-page Pulitzer Prize-winning book about the Manhattan Project. And Barbie is based on a plastic doll with big boobies.

Language aside, his joke falls short in many different manners. Yep, the award-winning, record-breaking film studying the importance of a doll in feminism and women’s rights – is about big boobies. And why is it so important for male comedians to diminish something about, by, or for women just to elevate masculine content? To make matters worse, Oppenheimer wasn’t even the longest film to be featured at the Golden Globes, with Killers of the Flower Moon being twenty-six minutes longer than the one mentioned in the joke. 

The worst part of Koy’s joke was his complete misunderstanding of the entire film, which even touched on how men always feel the need to put women down. When Barbie ran Barbieland, the men were never inhibited by the women, but rather, Barbie’s biggest crime was just neglecting Ken. On the other hand, when it became Kenland, the Barbies were sexualized, turned into maids, and their opinions turned obsolete. 

If Koy did watch Barbie, maybe he fell asleep during the legendary speech from America Ferrera that explicitly explains the unique struggle of womanhood. 

What makes his stand-up somehow even worse is his lack of a backbone. Sometimes your jokes will fall flat, it’s a part of the job – well, maybe not if you’re a good comedian, but still. Yet, when Koy’s jokes prompt silence, he immediately blames his writers, saying, “Some I wrote, some other people wrote.” Holy crap, even if this is true, have some dignity and move on. 

He digs himself a deeper hole with: “I wrote some of these and they’re the ones that you’re laughing at.” No one is going to laugh at you blaming other people, Koy. Saturday Night Live guest hosts and recurring cast don’t always write their own jokes, but when they don’t prompt laughs in the studio audience, you never see them blame their writers because one: it is unprofessional and two, counterproductive. Same with late-night hosts; Conan specifically has always been praised for taking the fall for his writer’s unfunny jokes. So, have a backbone, or leave the biz! 

Koy defends himself with the claim he was hired for the gig only ten days before (and fact check: it was 18 days). Although that is still a short notice, it is not an excuse for the types of jokes he was making. Short-term notice is only an excuse for bland, unfunny jokes – not misogynistic comments. 

You would think that after the immense backlash following the Golden Globes, Koy would apologize, stay out of the spotlight, or make some sort of internal change. But no, he was quoted at his first stand-up gig following the award show expressing that he encountered, “Lot a marshmallows, man. They’re delicious, but goddamn, they’re soft. I just come from a different time.” 

I’m sorry – what? The entire nation thinks you’re a misogynist pig right now, not just the people in the crowd. What makes it worse is his blatant disregard for understanding what he did wrong; if he is genuinely that dense to not understand why his “jokes” were offensive, he is dangerous to be on a stage performing. 

Also – did we not learn from the Kevin Hart and Chris Rock debacle at the Oscars? Let’s just stop making insensitive jokes about women and their appearance and then everyone will stop getting canceled and slapped. 

I’ll credit Koy with one thing: the ratings did rise significantly from last year’s Golden Globes. I guess when a trainwreck occurs, people break their necks to see it …