Jo Koy defends Golden Globes joke after Taylor Swift’s cold reaction

Jo Koy calls his Golden Globes joke about Taylor Swift “cute” and only a “compliment.”

Jo Koy caused a stir at the 2024 Golden Globes when he made light of Taylor Swift's NFL connection, but he contends that he wasn't being rude.

“The big difference between the Golden Globes and the NFL? At the Golden Globes, we have fewer camera shots of Taylor Swift. I swear,” Koy, 52, said during the Sunday, January 7, broadcast, referring to Swift, 34, being shown on TV constantly during her boyfriend Travis Kelce’s football games.

“Sorry about that,” he quickly said after the audience went silent.

The first-time Golden Globes host's opening monologue featured several awkward gags, but when Koy mentioned 34-year-old Swift, her response went viral right away. 

The performer took a sip of her champagne and maintained a straight expression as the camera turned to her. She didn't seem amused.

Swift has already spoken out against the NFL's decision to regularly display her on television when she goes to Kansas City Chiefs games with Kelce.

“There’s a camera, like, a half-mile away, and you don’t know where it is, and you have no idea when the camera is putting you in the broadcast, so I don’t know if I’m being shown 17 times or once,” Swift told TIME in December 2023.

Koy said the quip was made in fun, according to Entertainment Tonight on Sunday.

“Aww, man, it was cute. I was just saying it was cute,” he insisted upon knowing Swift’s reaction. “I was just saying it’s less cutaways, that’s all.”

“It was a compliment,” Koy revealed to Extra after the show, maintaining that he meant Swift “could be more intimate tonight, that’s all.”

During his interview on GMA3: What You Need to Know on Monday, January 8, Koy claimed that his Swift joke was the Globes moment that made him feel horrible.

“I think it was when the Taylor one was just a little flat,” he recalled. “It was a weird joke, I guess.”