Dana Carvey, David Spade call out Taylor Swift for reaction to Jo Koy

Dana Carvey and David Spade this week joined other comedians in offering a defense of Jo Koy’s much-maligned hosting performance at the Golden Globes, questioning why Taylor Swift put on a show of being offended when she became the target of Koy’s “innocuous” joke about her romance with NFL star Travis Kelce.

Carvey and Spade riffed on Swift being “pre-offended” on their popular “Fly on the Wall” podcast Wednesday. This week’s episode incidentally marked Carvey’s return to the show, two months after his 32-year-old son Dex died of a drug overdose.

The “Saturday Night Live” alums opened the episode with Carvey briefly addressing his personal tragedy, saying, “If you’re listening to our podcast right now, you probably know about my family’s loss.” Carvey then thanked fans for the enormous “outpouring” of support he received after the news broke and spoke about the healing power of work, staying busy and keeping a sense of humor.

“It’s a long day when you’re not working and you get in your head,” he said. “And I think it’s really cool to laugh.”

With that, he and Spade switched gears to offer gentle, laughing commentary on the recent travails of another comedian. That would be Koy, who faced a torrent of criticism for his hosting performance at the Golden Globes on Jan. 7.

For the most part, Carvey and Spade defended Koy, essentially saying his performance wasn’t that bad. They pointed out that he’s a successful stand-up comic who sells out arenas, but who still lacks the name recognition of Steve Martin or Chris Rock, which made him something of an unknown quantity to the crowd at the Golden Globes. They also surmised that Koy’s narrative style of comedy wouldn’t translate well to an awards show monologue, where he has to rattle off quick jokes aimed at celebrities in the audience.

That’s when they brought up Swift, who was a notable presence at the ceremony. They were both puzzled over why Swift would feel insulted by the joke told at her expense, and why her fans would be so angry on her behalf.

“It’s almost like she was pre-offended,” Spade said, suggesting that the pop mega-star had somehow planned to be unhappy about anything Koy might say about her. Koy’s joke about Swift centered on how often the cameras cut to reaction shots of the singer when she attended Kelce’s Kansas City Chiefs games this season. Sports analysts have said that her romance with Kelce probably helped boost the league’s ratings.

“The big difference between the Golden Globes and the NFL? At the Golden Globes, we have fewer camera shots of Taylor Swift,” Koy joked as the cameras, of course, cut to Swift. The “Bad Blood” singer reacted with pursed lips and a stony expression before taking a determined sip from her champagne flute. Viewers immediately made note of Swift’s reaction and pounced on Koy for his “low-blow joke.”

Spade said the joke “wasn’t a burn or anything.” He and Carvey noted that celebrities targeted by Koy’s humor, such as Meryl Streep and Martin Short, “went along with the joke and just goofed around and people laughed.”

Spade said that Swift could have “made a face” as if to say, “Look at me! I’m so cute. They keep showing me.” Instead, she “kind of iced it,” which meant that the audience turned against Koy.