• Chelsea Handler put her ex-boyfriend Jo Koy in the hot seat during her opening monologue at the 2024 Critics Choice Awards
• Koy faced backlash over his jokes during his monologue at the 2024 Golden Globes
• Several previous award show hosts came to Koy’s defense amid the controversy
Here is what happened:
During her opening monologue at the 2024 Critics Choice Awards Jan. 14, comedian Chelsea Handler put ex-boyfriend Jo Koy in the hot seat, making fun of his widely panned stint hosting the 2024 Golden Globes. She jokingly stated that she preferred older and hotter men, shouting out “smoke show” attendees such as Harrison Ford, Robert De Niro, and Martin Scorsese. Koy appeared to throw his writers under the bus after several of his jokes fell flat during his monologue, saying, “Some I wrote, some other people wrote.”
Several more of Koy’s jokes from the Jan. 7 show sparked backlash, including his comment about the NFL constantly cutting to Taylor Swift during her boyfriend Travis Kelce’s games. While many of her fans blasted his joke about Taylor, Koy later explained he was not actually taking aim at the “Cruel Summer” singer, stating, “There’s no ill intent in that joke.” Amid the controversy, a couple of previous award show hosts came to Koy’s defense.
A day after the interview was published, Koy returned to the stage, alluding to the backlash over his Golden Globes monologue. “Lotta marshmallows, man—they’re delicious, but goddamn, they’re soft,” he told the crowd of his show at St. Louis’ Stifel Theatre Jan. 12. After his comments were met with applause, he added, “I got a feeling none of you motherf–kers watched it, and I’m kind of happy. Oh, my God. It feels good to live in this country.” He also expressed frustration over the changes and lack of ability to laugh at ourselves. Whoopi Goldberg also commented on the difficulty of hosting gigs, saying, “If you’ve not been in these rooms before, and you’re sort of thrust out there, it’s hit or miss.”
