Jo Koy criticises ‘soft’ celeb crowd after bombing at Golden Globes

‘I just come from a different time. I see the changes that are happening. I get it, but goddamn, can we laugh at ourselves?’ said the comedian

Jo Koy has alluded to his disastrous stint hosting the Golden Globes, appearing to call his celebrity audience “soft” like “marshmallows”.

The comedian, 52, was announced as the host of the awards ceremony only weeks prior to the show, which took place on 8 January 2024.

His first major hosting gig, however, did not go down well – neither with viewers watching at home nor the A-list celebrities in attendance.

Koy was roasted for his “unfunny” jokes, many of which fell flat on the night, as his starry audience looked visibly unimpressed.

During his first stand-up set since the awkward awards show, Koy alluded to the event and appeared to criticise the Golden Globes audience as “soft”.

Appearing on stage in St Louis to a standing ovation, Koy said: “Holy s***, right? This big hug that you gave me is all I need, swear to God. F***ing whirlwind, goddamn.”

Appearing to reference the Golden Globes and the fall-out from his hosting gig, as per Variety, he said: “Lot of marshmallows, man. They’re delicious, but goddamn, they’re soft.

“I just come from a different time. I see the changes that are happening. I get it, but goddamn, can we f***ing laugh at ourselves?” he continued.

Taylor Swift wasn’t impressed with Jo Koy’s joke at her expense (Paramount+)

Koy went on to say that he would be “kinda happy” to learn that no one in the crowd had watched him bomb that night.

“I got a feeling none of you motherf***ers watched it, and I’m kinda happy,” he said. “Oh my god. It feels good to live in this country. We get to say what we want to say. Don’t be apologetic about it at all. Be able to…speak your mind.”

Earlier this week, Koy did admit to feeling regret over one aspect of his derided monologue.

Seeing that some of his jokes were failing to land, Koy resorted to blaming his writers, telling the crowd: “I wrote some of these [jokes], and they’re the ones you’re laughing at!”

In a subsequent interview with The Los Angeles Times, he said he regretted making a joke at his writers’ expense, calling it a “rookie move”.

Jo Koy (Getty Images)

“They busted their a**, man. There’s a lot of greats that make rookie moves. That was a rookie move,” he told the publication.

“Those writers are dope and that was not my intention at all. They were amazing, they had my back and I need to make sure I fix that and I will. I always will.”

Elsewhere in the interview, as he did during the Golden Globes live ceremony, Koy blamed the very tight two-week period he was given to prepare his monologue, in comparison with other hosts who have been given months.

“It’s so crazy because the day before, we were all sitting right here, it was the first time we all met in person, the day before we had to turn in that monologue,” he said. “One time, that’s all we had. It was the most insane thing.”

Koy said he also did not have the chance to test the material on a live audience.

Steve Martin was among those to defend Koy following the awards show, saying on Threads: “I tip my hat to anyone who steps out on stage to host a live awards show.”