Trevor Noah's hosting at the 2024 Grammys was a breath of fresh air in the world of award shows—which have seen dwindling ratings in the past few years. In contrast to Jo Koy's recent Golden Globes debacle, Noah navigated the night with ease and finesse, delivering jokes that were well-received and genuinely funny rather than demeaning—making the whole experience a lot less painful for viewers at home.
Unlike Koy, who fell spectacularly flat with bad jokes that belittled the successes of Taylor Swift and the Barbie movie (both of which boosted the economy by billions this year, NBD), Noah proved you don’t have to make fun of celebrities—especially ones as successful and deserving of respect as Swift—to get people to tune in and laugh.
He improvised as stars like Meryl Streep and Taylor Swift arrived fashionably late during his monologue, and he delivered a respectable zinger as Swift traipsed by with her entourage: “As Taylor Swift moves around the room, the local economy around her improves. Look at that. Lionel Richie? Now Lionel Wealthy!”
He then went on, earning more laughter from the hard-to-please audience: “By the way, I think it’s so unfair how NFL fans have been complaining about the cameras cutting to Taylor Swift. Like she’s controlling the cameras at the games? Let her live. In fact, on behalf of Taylor, I’m going to give her a break. Every time Taylor Swift is mentioned, I’m going to cut to someone who played football. That’s what I will do.” The camera then panned to former pro football player Terry Crews—then to Taylor herself, who was all smiles. (A stark comparison to the viral meme of the star from the Golden Globes last month!) She proceeded to dance and sing along to every single song while balancing her drink(s)—a true triple threat. And all felt right with the world.
But it wasn’t all about Tay; Noah also joked about the real dangers of AI (“I heard an AI version of Andrea Bocelli singing ‘My Neck, My Back.’ And listen, it was beautiful, but it was wrong.”) and shamed the music industry while shading Spotify (“TikTok, shame on you ripping off all these artists. Shame on you! How dare you do that! That’s Spotify’s job!”) See, comedians, y’all can still make jokes. You just have to understand who your audience is.
So take note, other award shows and future hosts: One, you don’t need to tear Taylor Swift or other celebrities down for ratings. And two, Trevor Noah should host all of the things.
