--- description: The comedian's hosting job was widely criticized, but a joke that seemed to miss the entire point of 'Barbie' enraged viewers most of all. title: The Golden Globes Monologue Was Bad—But One Joke in Particular Sank Jo Koy image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3017bace745dd1af/698a43a0d075332919e6ebb1/GettyImages-1908169036.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [awards](/tag/awards/) ## awards Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The Golden Globes Monologue Was Bad—But One Joke in Particular Sank Jo Koy  by [Cady Lang](/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Jan 19, 2026 9:56 AM CUTPublished: Jan 8, 2024 5:58 PM CUT  Jo Koy at the 81st Golden Globe Awards on Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024\. (Sonja Flemming/CBS via Getty Images) \*\*\* Jo Koy \*\*\* Jo Koy at the 81st Golden Globe Awards on Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024\. (Sonja Flemming/CBS via Getty Images) \*\*\* Jo Koy \*\*\*CBS via Getty Images—2024 CBS CBS Photo Archive  by [Cady Lang](/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Jan 19, 2026 9:56 AM CUTPublished: Jan 8, 2024 5:58 PM CUT After a string of controversies in recent years, the [81st annual Golden Globes](https://time.com/6552894/golden-globes-recap-2024/ "undefined") on Sunday night should have been a bid to return to awards show relevancy, but the ceremony's host made that an uphill battle. Comedian Jo Koy, [who was announced as the host just two weeks before the ceremony](https://time.com/6552849/golden-globes-2024-host-nominations-ceremony/ "undefined"), opened the show with a monologue that was cumbersome, contentious, and profoundly uncomfortable, setting the tone for a night that failed to impress. While Koy's act played heavily into the age-old practice of celebrity ribbing, targeting everyone from Meryl Streep to [Taylor Swift](https://time.com/6342806/person-of-the-year-2023-taylor-swift/ "undefined"), his jokes more often than not fell flat with both attendees and viewers at home, especially as he ventured into the ribald or, in one particularly egregious instance, bald misogyny. Koy's lowest point in a decidedly unfunny monologue was cracking a joke about [_Barbie_](https://time.com/6289864/barbie-time-cover-story/ "undefined") that unintentionally highlighted [the underlying sexism that the film faced](https://time.com/6295515/barbie-feminism/ "undefined")—and, in many ways, the point of the whole movie. **Read more**: [_The Best and Worst Moments of the 2024 Golden Globe Awards_](https://time.com/6552894/golden-globes-recap-2024/ "undefined") "_Oppenheimer_ is based on a 721-page Pulitzer Prize-winning book about the Manhattan Project, and _Barbie_ is on a plastic doll with big boobies,” he said. "The key moment in _Barbie_ is when she goes from perfect beauty to bad breath, cellulite, and flat feet. Or what casting directors call character actor!" The joke elicited unimpressed reactions from the night's attendees, including physical grimaces from Helen Mirren and Selena Gomez, as well as seemingly unamused responses from the _Barbie_ cast and crew, including co-writer and director Greta Gerwig and stars Ryan Gosling and Issa Rae. > [](https://twitter.com/newsdwight/status/1744322490460221888) > [](https://twitter.com/officialhambly/status/1744163843885191584) To make matters worse, Koy got defensive after the joke bombed, blaming his writers and the lack of time he had to prepare for the show. "Yo, I got the gig 10 days ago, you want a perfect monologue?” he said, in an off-script moment. “Yo, shut up. You’re kidding me, right. Slow down. I wrote some of these, and they’re the ones you’re laughing at.” ### More From TIME Online, the joke sparked major backlash, with many critiquing Koy for the blatant misogyny in his joke. > [](https://twitter.com/Ciarabelles/status/1744250016020009116) > [](https://twitter.com/laurengarafano/status/1744178550683398356) Others took Koy to task for his reductive treatment of _Barbie_, emphasizing how the joke highlighted the central conflicts and themes of the film. > [](https://twitter.com/StationxSoftbal/status/1744380515757486283) > [](https://twitter.com/Will%5FSpencer3/status/1744164252112367816) > [](https://twitter.com/HarleeyJade/status/1744328274107351231) All jokes aside, _Barbie_ ended the night with some statues in hand—one for Billie Eilish and Finneas' song "What Was I Made For?" and another for Cinematic and Box Office Achievement—a decent if not triumphant showing for 2023's biggest release. On Monday, Koy addressed the reaction to his hosting gig on _GMA3: What You Need to Know_. “It’s a tough room. It was a hard job, I’m not going to lie…I’d be lying if \[I said\] it doesn’t hurt. I hit a moment there where I was like, ‘Ah.’ Hosting is just a tough gig," he said, according to [_Variety_](https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/jo-koy-addresses-golden-globes-monologue-taylor-swift-joke-1235864904/ "undefined"). "Yes, I’m a stand-up comic but that hosting position it’s a different style. I kind of went in and did the writer’s thing. We had 10 days to write this monologue. It was a crash course. I feel bad, but I got to still say I loved what I did.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6553085/jo-koy-golden-globes-barbie-joke/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6553085/jo-koy-golden-globes-barbie-joke/"},"headline":"The Golden Globes Monologue Was Bad—But One Joke in Particular Sank Jo Koy","datePublished":"2024-01-08T17:58:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-01-19T09:56:14.000Z","description":"The comedian's hosting job was widely criticized, but a joke that seemed to miss the entire point of 'Barbie' enraged viewers most of all.","url":"https://time.com/6553085/jo-koy-golden-globes-barbie-joke/","keywords":["awards","culturepod"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3017bace745dd1af/698a43a0d075332919e6ebb1/GettyImages-1908169036.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3017bace745dd1af/698a43a0d075332919e6ebb1/GettyImages-1908169036.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Golden Globes","caption":"Golden Globes","creditText":"CBS via Getty Images—2024 CBS CBS Photo Archive","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/awards/","name":"awards"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6553085/jo-koy-golden-globes-barbie-joke/","name":"The Golden Globes Monologue Was Bad—But One Joke in Particular Sank Jo Koy"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Watch the Most Talked-About Fashion Moments From the 2024 Golden Globes Red Carpet","description":"Stars of film and TV were buzzing on the Golden Globes red carpet as they arrived at the year's first major Hollywood awards show.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/I9ieVnKl/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2024-01-08T03:24:40.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/I9ieVnKl.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/6553085/jo-koy-golden-globes-barbie-joke/","duration":"PT3M46S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/6553085/jo-koy-golden-globes-barbie-joke/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```