Jo Koy Admits His Taylor Swift Joke at the Golden Globes Was ‘Weird’ and a ‘Little Flat’

Tomás Mier

Jo Koy knows he missed the mark with his Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce joke at the Golden Globes.

On Monday, the comedian went on GMA3: What You Need to Know to talk about hosting the awards show the night prior, and amid sighs, admitted that his joke about Swift and Kelce was “weird,” and that he meant it as a “jab toward the NFL” not Swift.

“I think it was the Taylor [Swift] one [that] was just a little flat… It was a weird joke, I guess,” he said. “But it was more on the NFL… I was trying to make fun of the NFL using cutaways and how the Globes didn’t have to do that. It was more of a jab toward the NFL, but it just didn’t come out that way.” 

During the Golden Globes, the audience had a less-than-stellar reaction to Koy’s opening monologue, and later in the show, he referenced Swift’s presence by saying: “The big difference between the Golden Globes and the NFL? At the Golden Globes, we have fewer camera shots of Taylor Swift.”

The camera then panned to Swift, who gave a straight face, pursed her lips, and took a sip from her glass of wine. Swift’s bestie, Selena Gomez, was also spotted putting her head down during the awkward moment.

Speaking to GMA3 Monday, the comedian described the Golden Globes as a “tough room,” and when asked if there was a particular moment that he regretted, he said the Swift joke simply didn’t land the way he planned.

“The one NFL joke was just, ah,” he added.

He also expressed his regret for blaming his writers for his bad jokes during his opening monologue as he admitted that he wasn’t sure if he’d take the opportunity to host the show again. “I feel bad, but I have to still love what I did,” he said.

Koy was met with boos during his opening monologue at Sunday’s awards show. “It’s hard to blame the guy though given that it was not only his first time hosting an awards show but he had very little time to get his act together,” read commentary from Rolling Stone‘s Marlow Stern.

Last night, Swift’s concert film Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour was nominated for the Cinematic and Box Office Achievement award against some of the biggest films of the year, including Oppenheimer, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Barbie ended up winning.