Jo Koy Names the ‘Rookie Move’ He Regrets From the Golden Globes

Comedian Jo Koy is not shying away from his mistakes at the 2024 Golden Globe Awards, including his comments about the writers. Koy’s jokes did not land well for the live audience or the viewers at home, and at one point during his opening monologue he said: “I wrote some of these [jokes], and they’re ‘re the ones you’re laughing at.” In hindsight, he says that throwing his writers under the bus was his biggest mistake of the night.

Koy spoke with The L.A. Times about what went wrong at the Golden Globes, and the interviewer wasted no time in bringing up the accusations that he threw his writers under the bus. In response, Koy said: “I love my writers. I love all three of them and I shouted them out. And I told them like that was a moment right there where I’m just grasping. I love them and I can’t stop talking about them in every interview. They busted their ass, man. There’s a lot of greats that make rookie moves. That was a rookie move. Those writers are dope and that was not my intention at all. They were amazing, they had my back and I need to make sure I fix that and I will, I always will.”

Koy mentioned in his monologue that he had only gotten ten days to work on material for the show, and many industry professionals have pointed out how unusual that is. Normally, they seem to agree, a comedian would have weeks or months to prep for an award show with a staff of experience writers, whom they would get to know over time to develop a distinct voice. Still, the fact that Koy had insufficient time and resources didn’t excuse him lashing out at the writers who helped him as much as they could.

“It’s so crazy because the day before, we were all sitting right here, it was the first time we all met in person, the day before we had to turn in that monologue,” Koy told the Times. “One time, that’s all we had. It was the most insane thing. And all we did was just sit and just go over it. And then you know there’s the suggestions. I went up on my stage [here at my office] and just verbally ran through it. But I was running it through [our group], of course we’re gonna laugh at it. It’s honest feedback for us but I didn’t get to run it onstage anywhere.”

“So given the circumstances, that’s what I had to go through and that’s fine,” Koy concluded. The comedian may have had a rough night, but after decades in the industry, he seems like he is prepared to bounce back from it. He is promoting new live tour coming up this year. He does not seem to be in a hurry to get another award show hosting gig.