Kevin Hart is standing by Jo Koy after the comedian was bashed for his jokes while hosting the Golden Globes.
‘I think Jo Koy is an amazing comedian, always has been,’ Hart told DailyMail.com when asked about his performance. ‘It’s a tough room, and without the knowledge and understanding of how to navigate a room – you can have some moments, some bumps.’
Viewers labeled the comedian’s jokes ‘tasteless’ and ‘cringe’ for taking jabs at Taylor Swift, Robert DeNiro and the Barbie movie.
But Hart – who faced his own hosting debacle when he stepped down from the Oscars gig in 2019 – says he’s sure Koy will recover from this as he did.
‘Jo Koy is a talented, funny f**king guy, and forever will be. People want to highlight the world of bad but Jo will be good and always has been,’ he said.
Kevin Hart told DailyMail.com that Jo Koy an ‘amazing comedian’ after his jokes fell flat at the Golden Globes
Jo Koy was labeled ‘the worst host ever’ for his ‘cringe’ jokes that fell flat during the 2024 Golden Globes
‘Jo Koy is a talented, funny f**king guy, and forever will be. People want to highlight the world of bad but Jo will be good and always has been,’ Kevin Hart said
Kevin Hart stepped down from hosting the 2019 Oscars after refusing to apologize for homophobic tweets that resurfaced after he was announced as host.
‘I have made the choice to step down from hosting this year’s Oscars….this is because I do not want to be a distraction on a night that should be celebrated by so many amazing talented artists,’ Hart said in a statement at the time.
Asked by DailyMail.com if he would ever consider hosting a big awards show again, Hart gave a firm no.
‘I’m at a point in my career where there’s no value in it for me,’ he said. ‘But I do think that it does provide an amazing amount of visibility and a platform of exposure, but it’s something that it’s not the easiest.’
‘To the comics of future and the comics of now, it is a place where you can find success. When you look at the Chris Rocks, the Amy Poehlers, Tina Fey, Ricky Gervais, Steve Martin, Martin Short, there’s people who have had a lot of success in these spaces.’
But Hart suggests that Koy was an outsider to many of those in the room on Golden Globe night, saying that the success of the host stems from the relationships he has with the A-listers in the audience.
‘When you are in the business and you have relationships with the people in the room – it’s an easier room. When you’re a little cold to the room, it may be a little more difficult – and there’s a little more hesitancy to be comfortable from an audience standpoint.’
But overall, Hart says Koy will bounce back from this.
‘Jo will be good and always has been. I love Jo. I can’t wait to see what else Jo does. He’s made it this far,’ he said.
Hart suggests that Koy was an outsider to many of those in the room on Golden Globe night, saying that the success of the host stems from the relationships he has with the A-listers in the audience
Koy addressed actor Robert DeNiro in the audience as he said he was ‘sorry’ for being a fan of his. DeNiro cracked a small smile before Koy said that him getting his girlfriend pregnant at the age of 80 is his ‘greatest performance’ and the crowd and DeNiro laughed a bit more
During a joke about the Barbie movie, actress Selena Gomez was seen bowing her head down and placing it in her hands in disbelief as nobody laughed
Koy cracked a joke about Taylor Swift and the NFL as the pop singer responded by taking a quick sip of her drink and not laughing
Koy’s opening monologue led to an outpouring of criticism on social media with some calling him the ‘worst host ever.’
Social media quickly flooded with harsh critiques about Koy’s performance as NPR medial analyst Eric Deggans said: ‘Jo Koy is a great comic, but i’m not sure he’s used to working a showbiz crowd hosting the #GoldenGlobes.’
‘His monologue wasn’t biting enough but also was a little too biting in the same moment. Tougher gig than it looks.’
At one point, he event went off script and telling the audience, ‘Yo, I got the gig 10 days ago, you want a perfect monologue? Yo, shut up.
‘Slow down, I wrote some of these and they’re the one you’re laughing at,’ he went on as much of the audience resorted to pity laughs.
Koy addressed actor Robert DeNiro in the audience as he said he was ‘sorry’ for being a fan of his.
DeNiro cracked a small smile before Koy said that him getting his girlfriend pregnant at the age of 80 is his ‘greatest performance’ and the crowd and DeNiro laughed a bit.
Koy said that the ‘key moment’ in the Barbie movie was when Barbie experienced ‘bad breath, cellulite, and flat feet, or what casting directors call character actor.’
After he made the joke, actress Selena Gomez was seen bowing her head down and placing it in her hands in disbelief as nobody laughed.
‘The big difference between the Golden Globes and the NFL – on the Gold Globes we have fewer camera shots of Taylor Swift,’ Koy said.
Swift responded by taking a quick sip of her drink and not laughing.
Koy went on to scale the room and call out actors like Barry Keohgan from Saltburn as he said: ‘Where’s your penis seated.’
He then decided to answer his own joke and turned to Bradley Cooper and took a jab at the actor’s prosthetic nose in Maestro and said he ‘found it.’