• News
  • Film and TV
  • Music
  • Tech
  • Features
  • Celebrity
  • Politics
  • Weird
  • Community
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content
Greta Gerwig responds to Golden Globes host's controversial joke about Barbie movie

Home> Film & TV

Updated 15:31 11 Jan 2024 GMTPublished 15:26 11 Jan 2024 GMT

Greta Gerwig responds to Golden Globes host's controversial joke about Barbie movie

Greta Gerwig has addressed comedian Jo Koy's jokes made at the expense of her movie Barbie

Gerrard Kaonga

Gerrard Kaonga

Greta Gerwig has finally addressed comedian Jo Koy’s jokes about her award-winning Barbie movie in a new interview.

Jo Koy hosted the 81st Golden Globes earlier this week and he still can’t quite escape the bad press he has gotten since then.

Koy's hosting has been one of the main talking points about this year's prestigious ceremony and sadly, it's not in a good way, with many expressing their annoyance over his 'tasteless' jokes.

At best, some have said he had an off night and that the jokes just didn’t land, while at worst some have called for him to never host anything ever again.

And one joke he made during the award show was at the expense of Barbie, which went on to win the Cinematic and Box Office Achievement award.

Advert

In his monologue, Koy said: "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."

And as anyone who's seen Barbie will know, that certainly isn't the case.

Jo Koy's joke about Barbie wasn't received well by both the audience and viewers at home.
CBS

But speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme on January 11, Gerwig responded that Koy isn’t exactly wrong in his assessment, before going on to explain why the film was important.

Advert

“She's the first doll that was mass-produced with breasts, so he was right on," Gerwig said. "And you know, I think that so much of the project, of the movie, was unlikely because it is about a plastic doll.

"Barbie, by her very construction, has no character, no story. She's there to be projected upon.”

Gerwig also admitted she was happy that her film had sparked such a vigorous debate from those who supported it and those who opposed.

“There has never been a time when I wasn’t familiar with the ire that Barbie inspired and also the arguments against Barbie,” she continued.

Advert

“So the fact that the film has inspired such a range of reactions seems fitting.”

Greta Gerwig, director of Barbie, has responded to Koy's joke.
Han Myung-Gu/WireImage

Users on X were less kind in their response to the criticism Barbie received, most notably from Koy.

Following Koy’s tough set at the awards, one user wrote on social media: ‘Jo Koy's 'joke' about the barbie movie is exactly why the barbie movie was made, infuriating,

Advert

“Jo Koy reducing the Barbie movie to a movie about 'big boobs' when the entire plot of Barbie is how difficult it is to be a woman in a men's world. It's giving 'I didn't do the readings for class, but also talking during 85% of the class discussion',” added another.

Regardless of where you fall in the debate, I'd say it's an honest and well-thought out response from Gerwig on some of the criticism.

Featured Image Credit: Tommaso Boddi/Golden Globes 2024/Golden Globes 2024 via Getty Images / Rich Polk/Golden Globes 2024

Topics: Barbie, Golden Globes, Film and TV, Greta Gerwig

Gerrard Kaonga
Gerrard Kaonga

Gerrard is a Journalist at UNILAD and has dived headfirst into covering everything from breaking global stories to trending entertainment news. He has a bachelors in English Literature from Brunel University and has written across a number of different national and international publications. Most notably the Financial Times, Daily Express, Evening Standard and Newsweek.

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

9 hours ago
a day ago
  • 9 hours ago

    Fans rave over ‘addicting’ drama with a ‘pretty dark’ story that you can stream on Netflix right now

    The new Netflix drama released on the popular streaming platform last week

    Film & TV
  • a day ago

    Shocking true story of series where woman with terminal cancer divorces husband and sleeps with 200 men

    Molly Kochan was just 33 years old when she was diagnosed with cancer

    Film & TV
  • a day ago

    Fans urge Netflix subscribers to watch ‘underrated' sci-fi series with perfect RT score and three seasons to binge

    The 'underrated' sci-series debuted in 2016 before concluding in 2018

    Film & TV
  • a day ago

    TikTok users point out hilarious issue with Netflix documentary on 'biohacker’ who wants to live forever

    Bryan Johnson has made a name for himself in his attempts to live forever

    Film & TV
  • Nikki Glaser reveals 'insane' Ben Affleck divorce joke she had to cut from Golden Globes monologue
  • Zoe Saldaña wins best supporting actress for Emilia Pérez at the Golden Globes
  • Jamie Foxx makes heartbreaking admission about near-death experience in Golden Globes interview
  • Body language expert explains Nicole Kidman and Jodie Foster's 'intense' conversation at Golden Globes