Golden Globes host Jo Koy serves comic He wants to win first stand-up award and reform the awards committee: “We all have to look forward now”

With the Golden Globes still in development following its sale to Eldridge and Dick Clark Productions amid numerous controversies, one wonders how much the current situation weighed on Jo Koy when he decided to accept the role of host or not? for the 81st edition? Not much, says the comedian.

“I think great steps have been taken. “It’s important, what they’ve already done,” Koy says of reforms within the awards organization, “and then of course going to CBS and discovering that it’s their new home.” It’s a new look and a new atmosphere, and you can feel the energy.”

From Koy’s perspective, “we all have to look forward now” when it comes to the Globes. “There are many things that Hollywood used to do and we now have to make great progress and that is what is happening.”

Although the Golden Globes is one of the entertainment industry’s oldest and best-known awards shows, the program, formerly overseen by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, came under intense scrutiny two years ago when it emerged that the voting panel of less than 100 international journalists There was not a single black member. This and other scandals have led companies across the industry to threaten to stop doing business with the group unless major reforms are implemented.

Subsequently, the 79th edition of the show was boycotted by broadcaster NBC and the winners were announced at a private, untelevised event in January 2022. After restructuring and relaunching, the Globes returned to NBC earlier this year with Jerrod Carmichael as host. , which is moving from NBC to CBS following its acquisition by Eldridge, which owns DCP in a joint venture with Deadline parent company PMC. After the sale, the Globes were turned into a for-profit event, the HFPA disbanded and the Golden Globes Foundation was formed as its successor.

Speaking to Deadline ahead of his Globes debut, Koy also discussed the “big thing” that stand-up films are finally getting their own category at the awards show. Despite stiff competition from first-time comedians including Amy Schumer, Ricky Gervais, Sarah Silverman, Trevor Noah and Wanda Sykes, he says he chooses Netflix star Chris Rock Selective outrage gave his highly anticipated performance of Will Smith’s Slam at the 94th Academy Awards. He attributes this to Rock’s courage in taking the unprecedented step of live-streaming his special event, becoming the first to do so on Netflix. “The fact that he took over a live performance is scary, man. Especially when it comes to a comic,” says Koy. “Because if you were just recording, you’d be like, ‘Oh, my mistake. ‘ and started the joke all over again. “We’ll cut it out in the mail.”

While hosting awards shows has been seen as a political problem and a thankless job in recent years, Koy says he doesn’t understand “where it’s coming from,” especially in light of the Globes, which “have always been fun .” Sure, these shows seemed to lose some of their cultural relevance in recent years because they were based solely on ratings, but what he looks back on are the shows he watched as a kid, as an awards show “a special moment in television.” was. was and it felt like there wasn’t a bigger platform for a stand-up comic. Even though he never actually thought he’d get the call to host, his jaw dropped when he did two weeks ago.

Although Koy has worked as a comedian for decades and regularly performs to sold-out venues around the world, he admits that the A-list Hollywood audience he’s performing for is “very different” from what he’s used to. However, he is not nervous because he feels that the participants are “there to have fun”.

“We had a crazy time in Hollywood. A lot of us were hit hard, and it felt like it hit us all every year,” he recalls, referring to Covid and last year’s twin strikes. “[In] ’23…it almost looked like Hollywood was going to shut down – and it didn’t. We’re back and we have to celebrate, and I’m so happy that I can sit in the best seat in the house and celebrate with everyone.

Unlike hosts like Chris Rock, who practiced their monologues on comedy club stages, Koy plans to spend as little time as possible outside the house before the ceremony, using a strategy he shared in 2018 discussing Moderator Seth Meyers has. “When I got the job, I said: ‘I’m not going anywhere. I’m not going to screw it up,” he says. “I eat at home and sleep at home, and the day after the Globes I’m going to party. But right now I want to be hyper focused and just do my best.

While Koy remains tight-lipped about the details of the plans for this year’s ceremony, he shares that he’s “very proud” of what the team has come up with as it prepares for a Thursday onstage and that the audience will be pleased to be able to calculate. “taste” of the comedy shines through.

Ahead of the release of his fifth Netflix special later this year, Koy will appear at two shows at the Kia Forum shortly after the Globes before appearing at arenas across the US and Europe throughout the year. After Steven Spielberg of DreamWorks offered him the chance to make his own film in 2022 Easter SundayAdditionally, he plans to pursue more projects for both the big and small screen. “I won’t stop, bro… Now I’m hooked,” Koy says. “I want to do more. I want to be behind the camera more. I want to do more specials for other comics and then more movies.”

This year’s Golden Globe Awards will air live on CBS and stream on Paramount+ on Sunday, January 7th at 5pm PT. While Paramount+ with Showtime subscribers can access the three-hour telecast via their local CBS affiliate’s live feed on the service as well as on demand, Paramount+ Essential subscribers must access it on demand the day after it airs. The ceremony’s showrunners are Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner, who serve as executive producers for White Cherry Entertainment, while Weiss will also direct. Other EPs include Barry Adelman and Helen Hoehne.