Taylor Swift's Reaction To Jo Koy's 2024 Golden Globes Joke Speaks Volumes
A key job for the host of a major awards show like the Golden Globes has always been to get the star-studded audience laughing. This year's host, Jo Koy, attempted to do this by poking fun at Taylor Swift and her relationship with Kansas City Chiefs footballer Travis Kelce.
In what has now become a viral moment from the earlier portion of the evening's ceremonies, Koy told the audience that the Globes "came on after a football doubleheader. The big difference between the Golden Globes and the NFL ... On the Golden Globes, we have fewer camera shots of Taylor Swift." The cameras immediately panned to Swift herself to catch her reaction, and it was an icy one. The star sat, unsmiling, pursing her lips tightly together, and then made a point of taking a sip of her wine. Nothing that could even be considered a hint of amusement was detectable on Swift's face.
Viewers quickly took to social media to discuss what they had just seen. "If Taylor Swift death stares could actually kill, Jo Koy would now be deceased," Piers Morgan quipped on X, formerly known as Twitter. And while some may have wondered why Taylor seemed so peeved, anyone who has been following her relationship with Kelce is likely aware that the singer has already addressed the fact that NFL fans aren't loving how often she is shown on TV during her boyfriend's games.
Swift is unbothered by annoyed NFL fans
Taylor Swift is aware that not all football fans enjoy seeing footage of her cheering for Travis Kelce in the stands, and frankly, she doesn't care. In her Person of The Year interview with Time Magazine in late 2023, Swift responded to the fact that some NFL fans have been complaining about how often the cameras pan to Swift during Kansas City Chiefs games. "I'm just there to support Travis," she said. "I have no awareness of if I'm being shown too much and p****** off a few dads, Brads, and Chads."
This quippy comeback of Swift's immediately garnered attention, and Fox NFL Sunday quickly ran with it to create an amusing ad in which a fictional family consisting of Chad Bradson, Brad Bradson, and Chad Bradson Sr. explain why they are "mad" at Taylor Swift: because the fictional Mrs. Bradson is such a huge TayTay fan that she ran off to the Eras Tour and never came back.
Considering all of this has been fodder for media coverage and social media discussion for months now, we aren't terribly surprised that Taylor's response to Jo Koy's joke was what it was; after all, the joke was hardly original and was, in some ways, like grabbing for the lowest-hanging fruit. At least that's how Swift fans seem to feel judging by their social media reactions to the awkward Golden Globes moment.
Swifties aren't laughing, either
Viewers of The Golden Globes and fans of Taylor Swift took to X, formerly Twitter, to share their thoughts on Jo Koy's joke and Swift's icy reaction. One person called Koy "the flop of the year," and another said of Taylor's unamused face that "she is all of us listening to him." One Swift fan made a reference to the singer's lyrics, saying, "They say looks can kill and she might try."
But Swift and her fans aren't the only people who felt Jo Koy fell down on the hosting job. The Daily Beast said of his performance, "If you're scolding the audience for failing to laugh at your jokes, you've already lost," referring to Koy's opening monologue which fell just as flat as his joke about Swift. Seemingly embarrassed that his opening was not receiving the responses he had hoped, Koy chose to make excuses, saying, "I got the gig 10 days ago ... You want a perfect monologue? Shut up! ... I wrote some of these [jokes], and they're the ones you're laughing at."
While it's true Koy's appointment as host was last-minute, it appears during the ten days he had to prepare, he did not manage to write jokes that would amuse most of his audience, and certainly not ones that would amuse Taylor Swift.