Who is Jo Koy? Meet the comedian hosting the 2024 Golden Globes
Jo Koy is hosting the 2024 Golden Globes.
That might have prompted you to wonder, “Who?”
More famous comedians including Chris Rock reportedly turned down the gig. And, former Globes hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler reportedly said they were done.
So, the job fell to Koy.
“This is my childhood dream,” Koy, 52, told USA Today.
He said, “I’m now living something that I would watch as a kid, something that indirectly inspired me to do what I do, seeing everyone from Bob Hope to Billy Crystal to Whoopi Goldberg [host] … Now, I’m in the captain’s seat and I’m loving it.”
He told Variety about his plans, “I’m going to poke fun, but I want to do it in a way where we’re still celebrating. The industry got hit hard. Hollywood got shook. Everyone got shook,” he said, referring to the writers’ and actors’ strikes, which are now over.
“So, let’s celebrate. Let’s enjoy this …That’s the approach I want to have on this one.”
Here’s everything you need to know about the 2024 Golden Globes host, who is a comedian and actor with a slew of Netflix stand-up specials, a book and an endorsement from Steven Spielberg.
Oh — and he was also a panelist on E!’s late-night show “Chelsea Lately.”
His early years
Koy grew up in Seattle, and he has also lived in Tacoma, Washington; Las Vegas; and the Philippines.
His mom is Filipina, and his dad is a white American serviceman who left the family when Koy was young. He was born Joseph Glenn Herbert Sr., but in a 2019 stand-up show, he said that he landed on the stage name “Jo Koy” after a maternal aunt called him “Jo Ko.”
He’s been going by Jo Koy ever since, he said — for 30 years now. “That’s just what Filipinos do, they name you one thing and then f – – king call you something else,” he said, during his special.
His parents
Jo Koy’s parents divorced when he was young, and he was primarily raised by his mother, reconnecting with his father as an adult.
He opened up about it on a 2022 appearance on “The Kelly Clarkson Show.”
“At the beginning, it was tough, I’m a product of divorce. I’ve never really talked about it publicly, how I struggled with identity — my dad is white, my mom is Filipina, my dad and mom divorced. And here I am … my whole teenage years, being raised by my mom,” he said.
“I never really had that relationship with my father. When we rekindled, it was hard … but now, we’re the best of friends.”
His movies and TV shows
Koy has six Netflix specials — four currently streaming and two more in the pipeline.
He also has a 2022 memoir called “Mixed Plate,” he appeared in the 2023 movie “The Haunted Mansion” and he starred in the 2022 movie “Easter Sunday,” which follows the antics of a dysfunctional Filipino family.
The latter was produced by Steven Spielberg, after the famous director enjoyed Koy’s 2019 Netflix stand-up special, “Comin’ in Hot.”
When Koy met with representatives from Spielberg’s production company, Amblin, “I thought it was a general meeting: I’ll tell them about me, they’ll tell me about them and then we’ll walk away,” he told Tatler in 2022.
“But the minute we walked in, people greeted me like, ‘Oh my God, Steven’s a big fan,’ ‘Steven loves you.’ I honestly was like, ‘Do you mean Steven from accounting? Because there’s no way it’s Steven Spielberg. It’s absolutely impossible!’ And they were like, ‘No, it’s Steven Spielberg.’”
He’s also appeared in episodes of TV shows such as “Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens” and “Mr. Iglesias.”
His 2019 Netflix special “Jo Koy: Comin In Hot” was filmed in Hawaii. Thanks to the success of Koy’s first Netflix stand-up special, the comedian sold out 11 shows at Honolulu’s Blaisdell Center Concert Hall — which added up to around 23,000 tickets. On “The Kelly Clarkson Show,” in 2022, Koy said, “Hawaii really embraced me right away. When my first special came out, I broke a record in Hawaii — I broke Mariah Carey’s record for the most tickets ever sold.”
His 2020 Netflix special, “Jo Koy: In His Elements,” was shot in Manila, the Philippines. His most recent Netflix special, “Jo Koy: Live from the Los Angeles Forum,” premiered in September 2022.
His tour
Koy was recently on his “Jo Koy World Tour,” which included taping his next Netflix special in Brooklyn in November.
After the Golden Globes, he will perform two shows at the Kia Forum, before traveling to arenas across the US and Europe with a slew of tour dates throughout the year.
“I’m not going to stop, bro … Now I’m addicted,” Koy told Deadline. “I want to create more. I want to be behind the camera more. I want to shoot more specials for other comics, and then also shoot more movies.”
His son and ex-wife
Jo Koy and his now-ex-wife, Angie King, welcomed their son, Joseph J. Herbert Jr, in 2003.
Koy was married to Filipina American singer Angie King (stage name: Nura Luca) from 2003 to 2013. During a 2022 appearance on “The Kelly Clarkson Show,” Koy said, “I’m from a different generation when divorce was still new, and my dad stepped away. I don’t ever want my son to feel that feeling. I know that divorce is hard, but you can make it work. We’re still best friends — me and my ex. She has all the codes to my house, she can walk in whenever she wants. When we go on vacation, she comes. My son never feels this difference. We’re a loving family, and we can work. Just because you’re not married, it doesn’t mean you’re not the best of friends. Everywhere I move [Angie King] moves next to me.”
About his son, whom he raised in Los Angeles, Koy wrote on Instagram on Joseph’s 18th birthday in 2021, “I’ve always said that my life didn’t start until you were born. Now I’m excited to see what your future holds. The world is yours my son and I’ll be right next to you the whole way.”
“My son was there when Netflix said ‘No.’ I shot ‘Live from Seattle;’ I had to pay for it. He knows what his dad went through, so he knows it was more than just about me,” Koy told Tatler Philippines, about paying for that special out of his pocket (Netflix eventually bought and released the special in March 2017).
Koy told the Aspen Times in 2019 that he uses his son as material for jokes, but “if he doesn’t want me to talk about it, I won’t. But for the most part, he’s cool with it.”
Joseph worked as part of his dad’s crew during Koy’s world tour.
“Nothing better than seeing the world with my son,” Koy captioned a photo of himself with his son in Anchorage, Alaska, in August.
His relationship with Chelsea Handler
Koy was romantically linked to Chelsea Handler from September 2021 to June 2022. The pair were longtime pals before dating.
“I mean, there has to be some accountability, you know what I mean? Like, from him about what happened, because it was just ridiculous,” Handler, 47, said on Brooke Shields’ “Now What?” podcast in December 2022.
She further elaborated about their breakup: “There was just some behaviors that we couldn’t agree on. And it felt to me like I would have to abandon myself, which maybe I would have been OK to do if I were 20 or 25. But I wasn’t willing to do that. I had to walk away from something that I really thought was going to be a forever relationship. Walking away from him was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever had to do.”
“She’s a beautiful person, and, you know, we’re still friends,” Koy told Page Six in July.
“It was a beautiful time,” he said, about their nearly yearlong relationship, “And she’s doing beautiful things right now. She’s crushing it right now, so I have nothing but the best love for her.”
The Golden Globes will air Sunday, Jan. 7 at 8 p.m. on CBS.
