Steve Martin has offered support to Jo Koy following criticism of the comic's Golden Globe Awards hosting.
The 'Only Murders in the Building' star has helmed the ceremony three times, including once sharing the duty with Alec Baldwin, and insisted it is a very "difficult" job so offered praise to the 'Sunday Star' for being brave enough to take on the gig.
He wrote on Threads: “I tip my hat to anyone who steps out on stage to host a live awards show.
“It’s a very difficult job and not for the squeamish. I know because I’m still throwing up from the last time I did it in 2010.
“So, Congratulations to Jo Koy, who took on the toughest gig in show business, hit, missed, was light on his feet, and now has twenty minutes of new material for his stand up!”
Whoopi Goldberg - who hosted the Academy Awards four times between 1994 and 2002 - also defended Jo this week.
Describing the hosting gigs as "brutal", she said on 'The View': "If you don't know the room, if you've not been in these rooms before and you're sort of thrust out there. It's hit or miss.
“Now I love Jo Koy. He, to me, makes me just 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 standups. That is not an easy game.”
Whoopi reflected on her own experiences, insisting it's "not an easy gig" for anyone to take on.
She laughed: "If you read any of the reviews of some the gigs that I've had where they've just you know, whisked me into the cornfield to die on the vine. I mean, it's not an easy gig.”
Despite the criticism, Jo later told People magazine he'd "love to" host again, although he'd want "five months, not nine days" to prepare, having only been announced for the job on December 21.
When some of the gags in his opening monologue fell flat, the comic blamed his lack of preparation time.
Speaking during the ceremony, he quipped: "Some [jokes] I wrote, some other people wrote.
"Yo, I got the gig 10 days ago. You want a perfect monologue? Shut up. You're kidding me, right? I wrote some of these, and they're the ones you're laughing at."
