By Kai McMillian
The Golden Globes took place on January 7, 2024 at the iconic Beverly Hilton hotel in Beverly Hills. The show had a star studded audience with big names such as Margot Robbie, Taylor Swift, Ryan Gosling, Barry Keoghan, Cillian Murphy, Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, etc, with blockbuster films like Barbie, Oppenheimer, The Eras Tour Movie, Poor Things, and more. It was a fantastic night for movie fans, actors, directors/producers, and more, but for Jo Koy, not so much. Jo Koy has angered a lot of fans and some of the guests due to his low brow humor and his inability to separate his stand-up comedy from more formal events.
A little back story of Jo koy; he is a half Filipino, half White stand up comedian who made his debut by performing in local coffee shops in Las Vegas. He’s known for his jokes about his experiences of being Filipino and his upbringing in a Filipino family and lifestyle. He’s loved by millions of people, mainly Filipinos, selling out stadiums for his comedy tours to even being in movies. He’s a household name in many Filipino fans’ lives. He’s also considered one of the most popular comedians.
Come the Golden Globes, Jo Koy was chosen as the host for the show. Many Pinoy fans were happy as it was the first time a Filipino will be represented at a major event such as this and as we are underrepresented in the media, we saw this as a chance to be seen. After the show was done though, alot of us wished he wasn’t the one to represent us. Many fans of Jo and fans of the actors/celebrities were very upset with him. During his monologue, the jokes he mentioned about Barbie left many fans shocked as he said “ Barbie is on a plastic doll with big b**bies” after praising Oppenheimer. He also went on to say that Margot Robbie was “character acting” after saying “The key moment in Barbie is when she goes from perfect beauty to bad breath, cellulite, and flat feet”, basically making fun of the way Margot looks. Many people were also upset about the fact that his Barbie jokes are going against what the movie Barbie is about and is poking fun at the message of it, knowing that the message of the movie revolves around the systemic oppression against women and the social standards and expectations of them. Others claim that his jokes are the reason the movie was made because it proves that women aren’t ever taken seriously. Selena Gomez was also seen putting her face in her hands as she heard the joke.
Jo also upset the “Swifties”, aka, Taylor Swift fans. His joke was that “The big difference between the Golden Globes and the NFL? At the Golden Globes, we have fewer camera shots of Taylor Swift.”, basically saying that, “since we aren’t at an NFL game, we don’t have to see you as much”, which Taylor responded giving a stern face and unamused attitude. The joke also shaded Travis Kelce (player on the Kansas City Chiefs), Taylor’s boyfriend, as she’s always at his games. If you think we’re done, there’s more. He also disrespected one of the most respected actors, Robert De Niro, by saying “How did you manage to get her pregnant at 80? CGI?” which is not only disrespectful to Robert and his wife, but inappropriate as it is something very personal to the couple. Jo went on to make jokes about Barry Keoghan’s explicit scenes in Saltburn, making jokes about the actors’ intimate areas, making Barry cover his face in embarrassment as he played it off by laughing.
As Jo Koy’s monologue came to a close, we were all left with second hand embarrassment and shock. My personal opinion on this was that I was happy Filipinos were being represented and that Jo was giving us a voice but after, I was just left angered and upset as this was the first time a Filipino has hosted the Golden Globes and it was our time to shine, but it was ruined unfortunately. I was also a Jo Koy fan so I was excited for that also. I would nominate either Bretman Rock, Lou Diamond Phillips, or the iconic Vice Ganda to represent us Filipinos. Jo Koy is a fantastic stand up comedian, but his comedy is mostly just suitable in shows, movies, talk shows, and his own shows, events like the Golden Globes as it is a more formal and proper event.
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