Jo Koy made a splash at the 2024 Golden Globes when he joked about Taylor Swift and her connection to the NFL, but he wants everyone to know he wasn’t trying to be mean.
During the broadcast on Sunday, January 7, the 52-year-old comedian quipped, “The big difference between the Golden Globes and the NFL? At the Golden Globes, we have fewer camera shots of Taylor Swift. I swear.”
He mentioned how Swift, 34, is often shown on TV during her boyfriend Travis Kelce’s football games. After a moment of silence, Koy quickly added, “Sorry about that.”
Jo Koy’s Taylor Swift jokes went viral
While some of Koy’s jokes fell flat during his opening monologue, his mention of Swift went viral. When the camera showed Swift, she seemed unamused and took a sip of her champagne with a straight face.
Swift had previously talked about the NFL consistently showing her on TV during Kelce’s Kansas City Chiefs games in an interview with TIME in December 2023.
She said, “There’s a camera, like, a half-mile away, and you don’t know where it is, and you have no idea when the camera is putting you in the broadcast, so I don’t know if I’m being shown 17 times or once.”
The “Bad Blood” singer clarified, “I’m just there to support Travis. I have no awareness of if I’m being shown too much and pissing off a few dads, Brads, and Chads.”
Jo Koy clarified his jokes were for fun
Jo Koy clarified to Entertainment Tonight on Sunday that his joke about Taylor Swift at the Golden Globes was all in good fun. When informed of Swift’s reaction, he said, “Aww, man, it was cute. I was just saying it was cute. I was just saying it’s less cutaways, that’s all.”
In an interview with Extra after the awards show, Koy emphasized that the joke was meant as a compliment, suggesting that Swift “could be more intimate tonight, that’s all.”
On the Monday, January 8, episode of GMA3: What You Need to Know, Koy reflected on the Golden Globes, pointing to the Taylor Swift joke as the moment he felt a bit bad about. He explained that he thought it was when the Taylor one was just a little flat. It was a weird joke.
Koy clarified, “It was more on the NFL. I was trying to make fun of the NFL using cutaways and how the Globes didn’t have to do that. So it was more of a jab toward the NFL. But it just didn’t come out that way.”
Jo Koy is a pure Swiftie
A few days later, Jo Koy shared that he was still confused about why his joke about Taylor Swift stirred up so much controversy. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times on January 11, he revealed that he’s actually a big fan of the Grammy winner.
Jo Koy expressed that what hurts the most is that he’s a supporter of Taylor and loves her work. He clarified, “I support her; I love her work. I got nieces that I bought tickets for. There’s no ill intent in that joke.” According to him, the joke was aimed at the NFL and how they frequently use cutaways to show Taylor during games.
He emphasized that he wasn’t saying anything different from what others have pointed out, and the joke was clearly about the NFL. Jo Koy finds it puzzling that, out of all the things that happened, this is the one getting attention.
Jo Koy’s Comedy at The Globes
Jo Koy’s comedy didn’t go over well with the audience at the show or those watching at home. His awkward monologue included jokes about Barbie, nominee Robert De Niro’s personal life, Barry Keoghan’s NSFW scene from Saltburn, and more.
Despite trying to play off the lukewarm response, Jo Koy became a major talking point on social media. One viewer joked, “I feel like nobody was in charge of the Golden Globes, and Jo Koy just walked in and said ‘I’m hosting,’ and nobody bothered to check if that was right,” as shared on X (formerly Twitter).
Another person mentioned that Jo Koy’s time on stage lacked positive moments, stating, “50 minutes in and Jo Koy has already: Threw his writers under the bus, Made 76 offensive jokes, Endlessly complained the audience isn’t digging his jokes, Made everyone in the world hate him, Made everyone grateful for Jerrod Carmichael from last year.”
