Whoopi Goldberg Defends Jo Koy On ‘The View’ After His Awkward Golden Globes Hosting Gig: “He Is As Good As It Gets When It Comes To Stand-Ups”

Comedian Jo Koy has become the internet’s punching bag ever since his lackluster opening monologue during Sunday night’s (Jan. 7) Golden Globes ceremony. While his jokes might not have landed with the celebrity audience in attendance, The View co-hosts Whoopi Goldberg and Sara Haines were quick to defend the host on this morning’s episode of the hit daytime talk show.

Koy’s jokes about the NFL’s coverage of Taylor Swift and Barbie being based on a “plastic doll with big boobies” garnered mixed reactions from the audience, forcing him to blame his cringey material on his writers and the fact that he was hired for the gig “10 days ago.”

However, Goldberg gave the comedian — who was a guest on The View just last year — some grace.

“These hosting gigs are brutal. They’re just brutal,” she said on The View. “If you don’t know the room, if you have not been in these rooms before and you’re sort of thrust out there, it’s hit or miss.”

She continued, “Now, I love Jo Koy. He, to me, makes me crazy because he’s funny. I don’t know whether it was the room. I don’t know whether it was the jokes. I didn’t get to see it. But I do know that he is as good as it gets when it comes to stand-ups. It is not an easy gig.”

Ana Navarro then countered that Koy “wasn’t funny” to her, before Sara Haines chimed in to agree with Goldberg.

“I love Jo Koy. The whole time I was nervous for him because I think he’s so funny. He’s kind, he’s good, he’s all the things,” she said. “What bothers me more in watching this is get a sense of humor. Because we need to protect these national treasures called our comedians because life needs them. We need to stop binding them in [and] fencing them in.”

She added, “In that room, Jo Koy is punching up. No one feels sorry. Just smile.”

The View airs on weekdays at 11/10c on ABC.