First-time Golden Globes host Jo Koy took aim at Taylor Swift during his opening monologue but his joke went down like a lead balloon with the singer.
The relatively last-minute host struggled through his monologue when he decided to joke about Swift’s high profile relationship with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.
Swift has regularly appeared at the NFL star’s games, watching from a private box with family and friends, where is she heavily photographed and filmed by both fans in the stadium and the NFL itself—with a level of coverage that has led to backlash from football fans and commentators.
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Koy decided to joke about that fact, but Swift was very unimpressed.
“The big difference between the Golden Globes and the NFL? At the Golden Globes, we have fewer camera shots of Taylor Swift,” Koy said.
The camera then cut to an unsmiling Swift in the crowd as she took a sip from her drink.
People watching the awards ceremony at home clocked Swift’s reaction and took to X, formerly Twitter to joke about it, while others slammed the comedian as “sexist.”
“oof. I don’t think Taylor Swift liked Jo Koy’s joke about her…” wrote one person.
Another added: “So far Jo Koy has insulted Taylor Swift, the woman responsible for the highest-grossing music tour EVER, and the women responsible for the highest grossing film in Warner Bros history — Barbie. This year, of all the years. Reductive, sexist, and cheap. Hate it.”
And a third wrote: “It makes me irate that Taylor just tries to simply ✨exist✨ in spaces and is somehow blamed for the attention that others (!!!) place on her.”
One person even pointed out the difference in Swift’s reactions when she actually liked a joke on the night: “Taylor Swift Jo Koy reaction shot vs Taylor Swift Jim Gaffigan reaction shot.”
Kelce was unable to attend the Golden Globes with Swift despite also being in LA for the Chiefs’ showdown with the Los Angeles Chargers, where the tight end rode the bench to avoid injury ahead of the AFC playoffs.
Koy’s joke about the “Bad Blood” singer was not the first time she has been mocked at the Golden Globes.
During the 2013 Golden Globes, Saturday Night Live alum Tina Fey and Amy Poehler poked fun at Swift’s much-scrutinized dating life, which she later slammed them for.
Fey joked during the ceremony: “You know what, Taylor Swift? You stay away from Michael J. Fox’s son,” (who was escorting stars off the stage that night), before Poehler added, “Or go for it. No, she needs some me-time to learn about herself.”
Swift later criticized the hosts’ joke to Vanity Fair: “You know, Katie Couric is one of my favorite people. Because she said to me she had heard a quote [originally from Madeleine Albright] that she loved, that said, ‘There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.'”
Christopher Nolan’s film, Oppenheimer, and HBO’s Succession were big winners at the 2024 Golden Globes.
Check out the full list of Golden Globes 2024 winners.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.