Oof—Jo Koy’s sexist ‘Barbie’ joke at the Golden Globes fell so, so flat

Joy Koy and Margot Robbie at the Golden Globes
Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty/Golden Globes

If you tuned in to watch the Golden Globes last night, chances are you were groaning more than laughing at the host, Jo Koy, as he performed his monologue and crowd work throughout the ceremony. During and after the live broadcast event, Koy has been heavily criticized online for jokes that fell flat, especially the ones he made about women.

For example, during his monologue, Koy joked that the “Barbie” movie, which broke records around the world, was based “on a plastic doll with big boobies.”

“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,'” he added, to visible cringes and groans from the A-list crowd.

Another cringeworthy moment came when Koy took aim at Taylor Swift.

“As you know, we came on after a football doubleheader. The big difference between the Golden Globes and the NFL? At the Golden Globes, we have fewer camera shots of Taylor Swift,” he joked.

The camera then panned to Swift, who was visibly unamused as she sipped her drink.

In the middle of his monologue, as his jokes bombed one after another, Koy went off-script in a particularly unhinged moment, trying to defend himself by reminding the audience that he only had a few weeks to prepare for the hosting gig.

“Some I wrote, some other people wrote,” he said of the jokes in the monologue. “Yo, I got the gig 10 days ago! You want a perfect monologue? Yo, shut up! You’re kidding me, right? Slow down. I wrote some of these, and they’re the ones you’re laughing at.”

Oof.

Reactions on social media tell you all you need to know, though. Koy’s jokes, regardless of who wrote them, just weren’t funny. Imagine that — when you make women into punchlines, people are unamused.

Here’s hoping this means next year, Amy Poehler and Tina Fey will be back.