On Jan. 7, 2024, the Golden Globes held its 81st  award ceremony. It was announced just two weeks prior that comedian Jo Koy would host. Koy’s opening speech gave little to no hope for the viewers as most of the jokes fell flat for the audience. 

During the show, as Koy introduced the “Barbie” movie; he commented ‘Barbie’ is about a plastic doll with big boobies.” 

The cast of “Barbie” seemed unamused by his quips. Koy received stares from Margot Robbie and the creator of the “Barbie” movie, Greta Gerwig. Online, social media users called out the comedian’s jokes about the film, accusing Koy of being misogynistic and inappropriate. 

“This is rancid, unfunny misogyny coming from the Golden Globes host,” said X user, @Ciarabelles. “I don’t think Barbie was some feminist masterpiece but to reduce it to being about a plastic doll with ‘big boobies’ is gross.” 

The stand-up comedian stated despite the critics, Koy still enjoyed hosting the Golden Globes. 

“I’m the first Asian to ever solo host. It’s 2024. I’m the first out of 81 years,” Koy said in an interview with USA Today. 

“Imagine if someone said yes [to hosting] before me. We’d still be at the 82nd Golden Globes and still no Asian as a solo host…” 

Despite the comments, many disliked his attitude and mindset towards “Barbie.” The film represents so much more than the supposed ‘joke’ Koy made. The movie has important themes of female empowerment, gender roles, and diversity.  

Ironically, Koy was not able to see how his jokes are a direct result of being raised in a male-dominated society – a patriarchy which the Barbie movie vehemently calls out. 

Koy claimed that there was no ill intent behind the joke, but it still didn’t sit well with fans.  

Viewers demanded that Koy spend more time preparing for his next gig. Koy had 10 days (about 1 and a half weeks from his announcement as host) to come up with a more respectable monologue. 

On a Monday radio show, Koy said to the press “It’s a tough room. It was a hard job; I’m not going to lie…I’d be lying if it doesn’t hurt. I hit a moment there where I was like, ‘Ah.’ Hosting is just a tough gig.” 

He continued, “I’m a stand-up comic but that hosting position is 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.” 

Still, after Koy addressed his own opinion on the matter, most viewers were not impressed. Many TikTok users made videos of their own berating Jo Koy. People speculated that he was using his ethnicity to cover up the comments he made towards women.  

One video from TikTok user @sannsophs said, “Jo Koy’s downfall because of his sexist and misogynistic comments while hosting the golden globes was not in my 2024 bingo. That man was never funny. All he did was make fun of Filipino mothers and poorly taught Filipino accents in his ‘comedy’ sets.” 

Another video which poked fun at Koy said “Barbie is about plastic dolls…YIKES!” by user @nxckbiaggi. 

Let’s hope our next Golden Globes host brings more entertainment value and less offensive messaging.