The 80th Golden Globes returned to the airwaves on Tuesday night, marking a comeback for the once-beleaguered awards show after last year’s telecast was canceled by NBC.
The event’s voting body, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, was accused of racism and bribery in a series of reports published by the Los Angeles Times. in 2021. The organization promised to clean up its act and diversify its voting membership in light of the allegations, appeasing NBC, which aired the 2023 ceremony.
This year’s Globes was hosted by comedian Jerrod Carmichael, who addressed the scandal in an off-kilter opening monologue, jokingly referring to himself as “the black face of a committed white organization.”
Banshees of Inisherin, Everything and everywhere at once and Abbott Elementary School were among the biggest winners of the evening.
Otherwise, it was a pretty bland show, apart from a few standout moments, jokes and surprises.
The best performances of the night
One of the biggest moments of the night came early: Best Supporting Actor Ke Huy Quan won for the overachiever Everything and everywhere at once.
Quan, who worked as a child actor in the 1980s and made his screaming known Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom director Steven Spielberg, recalled the confidence he felt when the roles began to dry up.
After retiring to work as an assistant director and stunt coordinator in the 1990s and 2000s, he was given the rare opportunity to star in what has become one of 2022’s breakout hits – and he’s been reliably a blast on the festival circuit this year.
“Fortunately, over 30 years later, two guys thought of me,” Quan said of the project’s co-directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert. “They remembered the kid. And they gave me a chance to try again.”
Later in the evening, Ryan Murphy — one of the most prolific TV producers working in Hollywood — accepted the Carol Burnett Life Achievement Award and used his speech to highlight the work of five LGBTQ artists he’s worked with.
MJ Rodriguez won last year’s Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Television Drama, the first trans woman to win the award; but she couldn’t give the speech without the telecast. He invited her to stand up to the applause of the crowd.
Murphy then spoke about Jeremy Pope, Niecy Nash, Billy Porter, and Matt Bomer, addressing his comments to LGBTQ youth aspiring to work in the arts. “I offer [them] as examples of possibilities,” he said. “There is a way forward; use them as your north stars.”
Longtime actresses look back on their careers
Seasoned actresses performed throughout the ceremony, including Jennifer Coolidge (White lotus), Angela Bassett (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever) and Michelle Yeoh (Everything and everywhere at once) received an award for significant milestones.
Yeoh highlighted the adversity she once faced as a young Malaysian actress who faced questions about her English upon her arrival in Hollywood and later, as an aging artist, wondered if her career was over.
“All women get it: as the days and years and numbers go up, it seems like the opportunities start to dwindle. I’ve probably been at a point where I’ve been like, hey, girl, you’ve had a really great run,” she said , before she called Everything and everywhere at once “the best present.”
Jennifer Coolidge, widely praised for her performance in the critical darling miniseries white lotus, she took the stage for the second time that night (her first time as a host) to accept the award for Best Supporting Actress in a Limited Series.
She said producers like Ryan Murphy keep her going with small projects in between the big ones, adding that Lotus showrunner Mike White changed her life.
“I had such big dreams as a young person, but sometimes they get torn apart in life,” she said. “Mike White, you gave me a fresh start.
Surprise, Spielberg, expletives
The award ceremony was accompanied by a handful of surprises. Naatu Naatu — an earworm from India’s runaway hit action drama RRR — the best songs of Rihanna, Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga in original song.
But the film, a crowd-pleasing blockbuster that grossed $154 million at the global box office last year, surprisingly lost the Best Foreign Language Film award to the historical drama. Argentina, 1985.
Steven Spielberg first won Best Director, then accepted Best Picture for his semi-autobiographical film Fabelman, with Canadian stars Gabriel Labelle and Seth Rogen joining him on stage for the second award.
WATCH | The Golden Globes will return in 2023 after a hiatus:
Hollywood’s Golden Globes are trying to bounce back from a major diversity scandal, bringing in 21 new voting members, six of whom are black. But critics say those changes don’t seem to be reflected in this year’s nominations.
Legendary composer John Williams, whose score for The Fabelmans was his last since his retirement was announced, missing out on the award for Best Original Score Babylonis Justin Hurwitz.
But perhaps the biggest surprises of the night took place throughout the telecast. For some Canadian viewers at least, there was plenty of uncensored profanity — including crystal-clear f-bombs from host Jerrod Carmichael, Banshees of Inisherin stars Colin Farrell and comedian Nicole Byer.
This year’s recipient of the Cecil B. DeMille Award for Outstanding Contribution to Entertainment was Eddie Murphy, who concluded his speech with advice for newcomers to the industry:
“Pay your taxes, mind your own business and don’t put Will Smith’s wife’s name in your mouth!”
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