Golden Globes host Jo Koy cracks ‘brutal’ Harry and Meghan joke at 2024 ceremony

Comedian didn’t hold back with jibe aimed at former royals

Comedian Jo Koy shared an anti-Prince Harry and Meghan Markle joke at the Golden Globes.

The Filipino-American comedy star didn’t hold back in his debut as host of the annual awards ceremony – a job he acquired just two weeks ago – whose winners included Killers of the Flower Moon star Lily Gladstone, Oppenheimer actor Cillian Murphy and Succession’s Kieran Culkin, Sarah Snook and Matthew Macfadyen.

After enthusiastically arriving on stage, Koy poked fun at subjects ranging from Oppenheimer ‘s running time through to Saltburn actor Barry Keoghan’s genitalia, before setting his sights on Harry and Meghan.

“It turns out Harry and Meghan Markle were still getting paid millions of dollars for doing absolutely nothing – and that’s just by Netflix,” he told the crowd, who laughed in response. The camera zoomed in on the streaming service’s CEO, Ted Sarandos, after he cracked the joke. Both Harry and Meghan were not present at the ceremony.

Koy was addressing the Netflix documentary, Harry & Meghan, which was released in December 2022 to mixed reviews, and saw the pair discuss their decision to step back as working members of the royal family.

The comedian’s joke, branded “brutal” by viewers on social media, arrived after what is considered to have been a tumultuous year for the former royals, who faced several obstacles, both professionally and personally in 2023.

While Harry’s memoir Spare became a bestseller, their other ventures did not prove so successful. After signing a lucrative three-year deal with music streaming platform Spotify in 2022, worth a reported £18m, it was announced less than one year later that their podcast, titled Archetypes, had been dropped.

As part of the deal, the duo planned to host and produce numerous podcasts but Archetypes was not renewed for a second series and their deal was ended – with Spotify’s head of podcast innovation and monetisation Bill Simmons later calling the couple “grifters”.

It also emerged in December, the couple’s charity Archewell – named after their four-year-old son Archie and established in 2020 – suffered a donations plunge of nearly £10m in a year.

While the Sussexes released their charity’s annual report and a promotional film showing their good works in 2022, it was marred by the dramatic loss.

Oppenheimer was the big movie winner at the Golden Globes, with Succession and The Bear sweeping the TV categories. Koy seemingly left Taylor Swift unimpressed with a joke aimed at the singer, while comedian Jim Gaffigan left the audience wincing with a controversial quip addressing the unsealed Jeffrey Epsetin court records.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry were source of brutal joke at Golden Globes (Getty Images for 2022 Robert F. Kennedy Gala)

Find the full list of Golden Globes 2024 winners here.