Award show opening monologues can go one of two ways: 1, the host absolutely crushes it, or 2, absolutely tanks it. Unfortunately for 2024 Golden Globes host Jo Koy, his monologue was firmly in the second category. Koy poked fun at some of the greatest working entertainment industry stars at the Jan. 7 ceremony, but his shady joke about Taylor Swift definitely crossed the line. If Swift’s reaction was any indication, she thought so too.
The set-up for the joke needed little explanation (but I’ll explain it to you anyway). Swift has very publicly been dating Kansas City Chiefs tight end, Travis Kelce, since at least September 2023. She’s attended most of his football games since they got together, and every time she shows up, she gets a lot of screen time on TV (because she’s one of the world’s biggest superstars. Duh.). Koy noted that the 2024 Golden Globes were airing right after a football game. That led to the “joke” itself: “The big difference between the Golden Globes and the NFL? At the Golden Globes, we have fewer camera shots of Taylor Swift.” The camera immediately panned to Swift looking very unimpressed and taking a sip of her drink. If you’re fluent in Swift’s body language, that means she’s pissed.
Besides the fact that the joke was simply not funny (I mean, comparing the Golden Globes and the NFL?), it was demeaning. Swift was at the Globes because her record-breaking Eras Tour movie was nominated for the Cinematic and Box Office Achievement Award. She completely dominated the entertainment industry in 2023; she was even voted TIME’s Person of the Year. With so many professional accomplishments under Swift’s belt, Koy had so many joke options at his disposal, yet he chose to target the one thing she can’t control: how the media treats her relationship.
Swift told TIME, “I’m just there [Chiefs football games] to support Travis. I have no awareness of if I’m being shown too much and pissing off a few dads, Brads, and Chads.” Her reaction to Koy’s joke was totally justified – she shouldn’t have to explain herself or apologize for being in a happy relationship. It’s not like she’s asking the cameras to show her; she’s just living her life!
This isn’t the first time Swift’s relationship status has been used for cheap laughs. Ginny & Georgia infamously made a misogynistic joke that slut-shamed the singer, which Swift called “lazy” and “deeply sexist.”
Swift is a public figure who’s built a career on writing about love — her fans are naturally going to be interested in her relationships. However, the media thinks that because Swift has been penning confessionals since she was a teenager, she’s given them free rein to dissect and judge every aspect of her love life. There’s a glaringly obvious line between what she chooses to share with the world and what private aspects of her life become public simply because of her celebrity status, and Koy tripped over it.
It’s time the media moved past singeing Swift’s love life under a microscope. There’s nothing funny about reducing a multi-hyphenate talent to her relationships, or worse, what people think about her relationships.Â