Stand-up comedian and actor Jo Koy opened up about the challenges and criticisms he faced for his hosting performance at the Golden Globes.
Koy made history as the first Filipino-American to host the 81st Golden Globe Awards on Sunday, Jan. 7 (US time).
In an interview with the American talk show Good Morning America on Monday, Jan. 8 (US time), Koy expressed his candid thoughts on his performance.
“It’s a tough room. It was a hard job. I’m not gonna lie. Getting that gig and having the amount of time that we had to prepare — that was a crash course, you know,” Koy admitted during the interview, acknowledging the difficulties of hosting such a prestigious event with limited preparation time.
Koy addressed critics who suggested that some of his jokes missed their marks, stating, “I’ll be lying if [I said] it doesn’t hurt. Hosting is a tough gig.”
He emphasized the unique challenges of transitioning from stand-up comedy to hosting a prestigious event like the Golden Globes.
“Yes, I was a standup comic, but that hosting position is a different style, it’s not the same style.”
Koy continued, “So, I kinda went in and did the whole writers’ things. And just like we’re all in that room together. We just had 10 days to try and write something for this monologue. It was a crash course. I feel bad but hey I’d still gonna say that I love what I did.”
Addressing the specific criticism about his joke involving Taylor Swift, Koy admitted that it fell flat.
“It was a weird joke, I guess. But it wasn’t… it’s more of the NFL, you know what I mean. I was trying to make fun of the NFL using cutaways and how the Globes didn’t have to do that. It’s more of a jab towards NFL but it just didn’t come out that way, you know,” he explained.
Reflecting on the experience, Koy revealed, “That’s a tough gig, I am not going to lie. I really love the artist standup. It was cool that the opportunity came to me.
“Hosting is a beast, that’s about it. The crash course was really hard. I literally got the call and haven’t slept since just trying to write something, just to write what we had to write,” he added.
Despite the challenges, Koy expressed gratitude to his team, acknowledging that everyone involved was great.
“Guys were great, everyone was great, it’s just that you know, that was that night. That was one night, I have an off night,” Koy said.
He concluded, “I wanted to give a little bit more of me. I just felt a little short, that’s all.”
Despite the negative feedback, the annual awarding show witnessed an impressive 50 percent increase in viewership compared to 2023, with an average of 9.4 million live viewers on CBS, as Reuters reported based on Nielsen ratings data on January 8th.
The Globes also streamed live to Paramount+ with Showtime subscribers, which CBS said was the second-largest live-streamed CBS special event ever on the streaming platform.
