Greta Gerwig Responds to Jo Koy's 'Barbie' Joke at the Golden Globes

The 'Barbie' director had an interesting response to the Golden Globes host's comments about her movie.

Greta Gerwig has finally responded to Jo Koy's controversial jokes about her film's premise during his Golden Globes monologue. 

During a recent appearance on BBC Radio 4's Today, the Barbie director, 40, was asked about the stand-up comedian's jab at her record-breaking box office hit and had a refreshing take. 

While opening up the awards show on Sunday, Koy, 52, compared the Mattel doll-inspired film to its July 20 release counterpart, saying: "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."

In response, Gerwig kept her response tame and cordial, even conceding that he was "right on" with the origin of the story. 

"Well, he's not wrong," Gerwig said "She's the first doll that was mass-produced with breasts, so he was right on. And you know, I think that so much of the project, of the movie, was unlikely because it is about a plastic doll."

Continuing in the interview, she said that it was that blank-slate mentality that gave her and husband/writing partner Noah Baumbach the freedom to take the story in the direction that they ended up going. 

Getty Images

"Barbie, by her very construction, has no character, no story," the actress and director continued. "She's there to be projected upon."

In his monologue, Koy also joked about the pivotal moment in Barbie, saying, "The key moment in Barbie is when she goes from perfect beauty to bad breath, cellulite and flat feet. Or what casting directors call character actor!"

Online, many social media users called out the comedian's jokes about the film, accusing them of being "sexist" and "demeaning."

"Jo Koy's 'joke' about the barbie movie is exactly why the barbie movie was made," one user on X -- formerly known as Twitter -- wrote. "Infuriating."

"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,'" another person shared

The film, which was the most nominated at the Golden Globes, went on to win the award for Cinematic and Box Office Achievement, after racking up a whopping $1.4 billion while in theaters. 

et

Koy's comments aimed at Barbie were not the only ones to set the internet ablaze during the award show. The Easter Sunday star also made a joke at the expense of Taylor Swift, making light of the amount of air time the 34-year-old singer has received recently at NFL games. 

"The big difference between the Golden Globes and the NFL? At the Golden Globes, we have fewer camera shots of Taylor Swift," the comedian said. 

The camera then cut to Swift in the audience, pursing her lips before sipping her drink and looking deadpan as the audience laughed and gasped.

"Oof. I don’t think Taylor Swift liked Jo Koy's joke about her," one person wrote on X. 

Following the show, ET's Denny Directo asked Koy about the viral moment, and he clarified the intention behind the remark.

"Aww, man, it was cute. I was just saying it was cute," Koy told ET of the joke. "I was just saying it's less cutaways, that's all." 

RELATED CONTENT: 

Latest News