Golden Globes host Jo Koy shades Robert De Niro with joke about becoming father aged 79

Comedian Jo Koy made a not-so-subtle dig at actor Robert De Niro while hosting the Golden Globes on Sunday night (7 January).

After enthusiastically arriving on stage to give his opening monologue, Koy poked fun at subjects ranging from Oppenheimer‘s running time through to Saltburn actor Barry Keoghan’s genitalia, as well as giving a series of shoutouts to some of the A-listers in the audience, including Ali Wong for her Netflix hit, Beef.

The comedy star – who got the call-up to be the Golden Globes host just two weeks ago – then set his sights on De Niro, who was in the audience.

Koy confessed he is a huge “fan” of the Killers of the Flower Moon actor before asking: “How’d you get her pregnant at 80?”

“I swear to God, man, your last performance has got to be your greatest performance ever. How’d you get her pregnant at 80?” he said. “CGI?”

The camera then panned to De Niro who seemed amused at the joke. Koy then turned away from the actor and asked the audience: “Is he looking? Is he looking?”

Koy was referring to De Niro’s daughter Gia, whom he and Chen, 45, welcomed in April. De Niro, who celebrated his 80th birthday in August, was aged 79 at the time.

In addition to Gia, De Niro’s seventh child, he is also father to Drena, 51, Raphael, 46, 27-year-old twins Julian and Aaron, Elliot, 24, and Helen, 11.

The joke has received mixed reactions from viewers, with some branding it “stale”, while others praised De Niro for “taking the joke very well”.

Other stars appeared to be unimpressed with Koy’s opening monologue, with Taylor Swift pursing her lips with an icy expression on her face when the comedian poked fun at her relationship with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.

“The big difference between the Golden Globes and the NFL? On the Golden Globes, we have fewer camera shots of Taylor Swift... there’s just more to go to here,” Koy said.

Fans remarked that Swift looked “unamused” by the joke.

Elsewhere in his opening monologue, Koy shared a joke referring to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, when he said: “It turns out Harry and Meghan Markle were still getting paid millions of dollars for doing absolutely nothing – and that’s just by Netflix.”

Koy was addressing the Netflix documentary, Harry & Meghan, which was released in December 2022 to mixed reviews, and saw the pair discuss their decision to step back as working members of the royal family.

After the crowd laughed, the camera zoomed in on Netflix’s CEO, Ted Sarandos. Both Harry and Meghan were not present at the ceremony.

Koy, born Joseph Glenn Herbert Sr, was only asked to host the Globes two weeks before the event took place.

“When they asked me, it was an immediate yes. I couldn’t believe this was happening – and then I woke up and went, ‘Wait a minute, I have two weeks to write jokes!’” he told Variety.

“Actually, I think I had less than two weeks because I didn’t get my writers until five days later.”

Koy called it a “crash course in hosting”, with his preparation time dramatically short when compared to that of previous hosts, such as Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and Ricky Gervais.