Jo Koy’s 75-year-old mother, Josie Harrison, admitted that she was hurt for her son after the criticism he faced from his Golden Globes hosting gig.
“If you love somebody and you know they’re hurt, it hurts me [too],” she said. “I know that Joseph tried his best during that night. So, I am with my son no matter what.”
She also said that a lot of the criticism came from fellow Filipinos.
Also read: Celebrities, media personalities validate Jo Koy’s Golden Globes hosting gig
“I feel sad especially when I see that the source of naysayers are Filipinos,” she said. “I told him, don’t be so concerned about the naysayers. You cannot please everybody, not even in normal life.”
She urged the Filipino community to take pride in Koy representing Filipinos and Asians on the global stage.
The criticisms aimed at the 52-year-old comedian were caused by some of his jokes referencing Taylor Swift and the Barbie film.
Despite this, many fellow comedians and TV personalities, such as Jack Logan, Whoopi Goldberg, and Al Jackson defended Koy, saying it was a tough job.
Koy later told Good Morning America that many turned down the gig because of the lack of time: “No one knew where the Golden Globes was gonna be, and then at the last second, CBS picked up the show and everyone was kinda turning down the offer because of the time, and I jumped on it.”
Also Read: Jo Koy nails first show after Golden Globes, gets standing ovation
