The Most Awkward Jokes at the 2024 Golden Globes Show

1

Shouting out Beef

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Before we dive into the flops, we should highlight a good joke from this set! Koy had a funny bit about being asked to host. "Then they asked me if I saw every movie and TV show and I said yes... I lied! I only watched Beef. Love you Ali [Wong]." We've all been there some years when awards season rolls around.

2

"Kevin Costner is here!"

81st annual golden globe awards arrivalsAxelle/Bauer-Griffin//Getty Images

Koy's opening bits were pretty decent, with the unfortunate exception of his very first show of the night. After expressing gratitude for the opportunity, Koy pointed out Costner and said "Kevin Costner is never here! Kevin is like, in a mountain with a cow or something, but today he’s here." If you want an invitation to Costner's ranch, just ask him at the afterparty.

3

The Barbenheimer bit...

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This joke definitely should have stayed on the cutting-room floor. "Oppenheimer and Barbie are competing for Cinematic Box Office Achievement. Oppenheimer is based on a 721-page Pulitzer prize-winning book about the Manhattan Project, and Barbie is [based] on a plastic doll..." Even if you didn't like Barbie that much, it's hard to not see the framing of this joke as super condescending.

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4

Cellulite & character actors

81st golden globe awards showRich Polk/Golden Globes 2024//Getty Images

Most of the Barbie bits weren't even close to the strongest of the night. "The key moment in Barbie is when she goes from perfect beauty to bad breath, cellulite, and flat feet. Or, what casting directors call a character actor." Koy even followed this up with an odd recovery line, "Some [jokes] I wrote, some other people wrote."

5

"I got the gig 10 days ago!"

81st annual golden globe awards arrivalsLionel Hahn//Getty Images

After a few lukewarm responses to jokes from the crowd, Koy said, "Yo, I got the gig ten days ago, you want a perfect monologue? Shut up! You are kidding me, right? Slow down, I wrote some of these, and they’re the ones you’re laughing at." Telling the crowd to shut up, and poking fun at writers for their jokes not landing aren't exactly great strategies for getting them on your side again.

6

De Niro Fan Moment

81st golden globe awards showMichael Buckner/Golden Globes 2024//Getty Images

You might as well take your chance to sing the praises and fan out on your favorite movie star, but that moment would have landed better with a great joke to punctuate it. "Your latest performance has got to be your greatest performance ever," Koy began. "How'd you get her pregnant at 80? CGI?" At least this one seemed to get a chuckle from De Niro himself.

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7

Prince Harry & Netflix

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While praising Imelda Staunton's portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II on The Crown, Koy joked, "Her portrayal of the Queen was so good, Prince Harry called her and asked her for money." Look, we don't need to be defending the Royals, but it was just a bit of a softball. Koy threw this joke's writer under the bus a little too, saying, "That one's not mine," even though it got some laughs. He also cracked that Harry and Meghan, "were still getting paid millions of dollars for doing absolutely nothing, and that’s just by Netflix."

8

The Taylor Swift Joke

81st annual golden globe awards arrivalsAxelle/Bauer-Griffin//Getty Images

The joke that (of course) got the most media attention was a crack about Swift's attendance at Kansas City Chiefs games. "As you know, we 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, I swear," Koy said. Swift's reaction added more humor to the moment for those watching the broadcast, but it was an undeniably flat joke.

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