Why Jo Koy gets the last laugh

SAN FRANCISCO – Filipino Americans’ beloved comic Jo Koy fulfilled his childhood dream of hosting a bonafide awards show when he took centerstage at the 81st Golden Globes on Sunday – 10 days after he got the job.

Instead of conclusively burnishing him as a Hollywood star, however, Koy got a beating in post-event reviews.

Social media pulled no punches. Slate blamed the host for “a disaster in the worst way possible.” Variety blasted him as “woefully unqualified.” The Guardian wrapped up his handiwork as “a bad gig for the ages.” The establishment press was no less critical, with Los Angeles Times reporting Koy as “flailing…at the helm” as the “party seriously fizzled.”

Jo Koy takes a selfie as he rolls out the red carpet during the Golden Globe Awards Press Preview at the Beverly Hilton on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

But four-time Oscars host Whoopi Goldberg had a different take. One of the few A-Listers to have an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony in their collection of trophies, Goldberg defended Koy on “The View” the following day.

“These hosting gigs are brutal, just brutal,” she enunciated her sympathy for her colleague.

“If you don’t know the room, if you’ve not been in these rooms before and you’re sort of thrust out there, it’s hit or miss,” she said in the Hot Topics segment of the popular ABC daytime talk show.

“Now I love Jo Koy. He – to me – makes me just crazy because he’s funny. I don’t know whether it was the room. I don’t know whether it was the jokes, I didn’t get to see it,” she admitted. “But I do know that he is as good as it gets when it comes to standups. That is not an easy game.”

‘One of the best standups on the planet’

Goldberg concluded her point by paying Koy an emphatic compliment, calling him “one of the best standups on the planet.”

“The View” co-host Sunny Hostin, a former federal prosecutor, said she didn’t understand the backlash to Koy’s quip about the NFL getting more cutaways to Taylor Swift than a Globes. “Was it really that bad,” she asked with a smile.

Hostin was not alone in bewilderment by the uproar over what was perceived as disrespectful of the superstar singer-songwriter, who was nominated for her “Eras Tour” concert film but lost to Billie Eilish for cinematic and box office achievement .

Megyn Kelly chided Swift for making the “wrong move” with what seemed like her displeasure with the jab.

“Can’t she just like show that she’s a good sport?” Kelly referred to Koy’s “gentle swipe” on her SiriusXM show.

“It is annoying, and if she were smart, she would laugh like she was in on the joke.”

Last-minute

The comic who brandishes his Filipino heritage in every blockbuster gig captured on Netflix finally arrived on his brightest stage yet at the first industry awards night since the months-long writers’ and actors’ strike ended.

Hosts are known to take several months to sharpen their monologues, but Koy had only 10 days after getting the offer. A number of colleagues apparently avoided the gig for the organization formerly known as Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s controversy-scarred past, such as the dearth of diversity among its officers and awards nominees.

Koy could have begged off but took the chance to put his culture in the spotlight. He indulged that Filipino sense of adventure, displaying enough confidence to stand within spitting distance of his “idol” Robert De Niro, his mother’s favorite Meryl Streep and past Globes co-host Kristen Wiig.

Perhaps he was counting on the novelty of being the first Filipino (half, actually, but who’s computing?) – one who proudly flies his biracial-but-more-culturally Filipino flag wherever he goes – to warm up the crowd with his brand of jokery honed from three decades of standup before predominantly fans of color therefore privy to his self-deprecatory observational punchlines.

Missed opportunity

He started off with the usual shoutout to the stars present, obviously playing to Hollywood royalty.  Why he didn’t step out of the box and instead enumerate newly minted celebrities like Michelle Yeoh, Ali Wong, Steven Yeun and Simu Liu besides Oprah puzzled because that could have underscored that America is more than Black and white. Didn’t he get the gig to represent the invisible and thus correct the absence of diversity on the show?

He could have noted that Filipinos have been part of the landscape long before the Mayflower docked, if he himself knew about the Manila Men in what is now Louisiana. Or pointed out that Hailee Steinfeld, a presenter, is, like him, Filipino on her mother’s side, but has had little opportunity to identify as such and be a role model for younger Fil-Ams aspiring to pursue a show business career.

Not funny, no, but a teachable moment he could have grabbed that might have caught more attention and less offense than his jest about what Ozempic does in reference to “The Color Purple,” especially since the film’s most prominent producer Oprah Winfrey has admitted to using medication to maintain her weight.

True, Koy’s nerves were palpable, when he went off-script to disclaim authorship of early bombs, railed at the eleventh-hour prep but then claiming later that the chuckle-worthy bits were his indeed.

It’s one thing “killing it” in standup and another to be hosting a primetime program, the comedian himself said on GMA3 the morning after his premier hosting.

‘It’s a tough room’

“It’s a tough room. It was a hard job, I’m not going to lie,” he addressed naysayers, “I’d be lying if (I said) it doesn’t hurt. … Hosting is just a tough gig. Yes, I’m a stand-up comic but that hosting position, it’s a different style,” he said.

Typical newbie, he apologized repeatedly to Swift for said joke.

Maybe he didn’t win new fans, but he didn’t lose any either.

Besides “The View” co-hosts and Kelly, CBS Mornings co-host Nate Burleson, formerly of the NFL, rated Koy’s hosting as “great” and reiterated his “love” for the guy.

While not exactly defending Koy, “SNL Weekend Update” co-host Michael Che explained the dilemma of a standup comic hosting an award show:

“For one, it’s very difficult to make movie stars laugh – they’re way too self-conscious to have a good time,” he said on Instagram. “Two, they don’t even want to laugh.  They’re too busy thinking about their careers, their speeches and their ‘cause.’  They think they wanna be made fun of. But they actually don’t. They actually just want their trophy.  And a nice photo.”

Coincidentally, those empathizing with Koy are mostly hosts of color, who have shared life experiences and perspective thus egging him on: They get it. Otherwise the Globes are just one more parade of millionaires offering an escape from reality.

Last laugh

Jo Koy’s monologue may not have been riotous but it certainly was not atrocious or viewers would have tuned out. On the contrary, the Golden Globes reached 9.4 million sets of eyes or a 50 percent spike from last year’s show per Nielsen ratings, according to Variety.

Streamed on Paramount+, the Globes crushed a record for the streaming service and other CBS platforms since the 65th Grammy Awards last February.

“The awards show landed the top trending spot on social media with nearly 30 billion potential impressions,” Variety reported.

To be viewed by millions around the world is already a win for Jo Koy, never mind the rough reception from the mainstream media clueless about what it takes for someone like him to grab the chance.

“I had fun,” he said on GMA 3: “You know it was a moment that I’ll always remember…I’m not going to lie…I’d be lying if (I said) it doesn’t hurt…Hosting is a tough gig. Yes I’m a standup comic but that hosting  position it’s a different story. I kind of went in and did the writers’ thing. We had 10 days to write this monologue. It was a crash course. I feel bad, but I still say I love what I did.”

That’s the Filipino in him talking – humble, grateful, undeterred – unscripted and already a superstar to those who look like him.