By: Aliya Koshalieva

National/World Editor

On Jan. 7, Hollywood’s finest gathered for the 81st annual Golden Globes. This marks the award ceremony’s first year under new ownership; Dick Clark Productions and Eldridge Industries produced the show, taking over the show, while the Hollywood Foreign Press Association remained as the voting body. 

Comedian Jo Koy’s monologue and hosting sparked negative reviews from critics and viewers alike, with Variety’s Alison Herman slamming Koy as “woefully unqualified.” The New York Times’ Nicole Sperling, who was in the audience, said she’d “never seen an audience rebel against an emcee so quickly.” 

Koy made several misogynistic jabs aimed at singer Taylor Swift and the Barbie movie. Swift’s concert film, The Eras Tour, received a nomination in the Best Cinematic and Box Office Achievement category. Koy poked fun at her appearance and relationship with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, saying, “The big difference between the Golden Globes and the NFL? On the Golden Globes, we have fewer camera shots of Taylor Swift.” The camera instantly cut to Swift as she sipped her drink with an unimpressed look on her face. Koy’s joke caused an uproar on social media, and after the backlash, Koy defended himself, stating, “What hurts the most is me just supporting Taylor; I support her; I love her work. The joke is about the NFL and how they keep using cutaways to [her]. I’m not saying anything that no one’s saying, and it’s obvious what that joke was. It’s about the NFL.” 

On top of that, he compared Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer and Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, remarking, “Oppenheimer is based on a 721-page Pulitzer Prize-winning book about the Manhattan Project, and Barbie is on a plastic doll with big boobies.” He also joked about an important scene in Barbie, saying, “The key moment in Barbie is when she goes from perfect beauty to bad breath, cellulite, and flat feet. Or what casting directors call character actor!” Barbie’s director, Greta Gerwig, responded saying, “Well, he’s not wrong…She’s the first doll that was mass-produced with breasts, so he was right on. Barbie, by her very construction, has no character, no story. She’s there to be projected upon.” 

Although Koy’s controversy overshadowed the ceremony, Oppenheimer and Succession swept in their respective categories. In film, Oppenheimer took home Best Motion Picture Drama, while Poor Things won Best Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. Barbie won Cinematic and Box Office Achievement and Best Original Song. Oppenheimer’s Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr. won Best Performance in a Motion Picture – Drama and Best Supporting Performance in a Motion Picture, while director Christopher Nolan won his first Best Director award. For television, Succession won four awards: Best Television Series Drama, Best Performance in a Television Series for both Kieran Culkin and Sarah Snook, and Best Supporting Performance in a Series, Limited Series, Anthology Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television for Matthew MacFayden. The Bear also won three awards, Best Television Series Musical or Comedy, Best Performance in a Television Series for Jeremy Allen White and Ayo Edebiri. Beef won Best Limited Series and Best Actor for Steven Yeun and Ali Wong, making Wong the first Asian woman to win in that category. 

(Sources: The Atlantic, Vulture, The Independent, Entertainment Tonight)