Sarah Snook, middle, Matthew Macfadyen, left, and Kieran Culkin pose with their awards for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Series Drama for "Succession", Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role on Television for "Succession", and Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Series – Drama for "Succession" at the 81st Annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Jan. 7, 2024.MARIO ANZUONI/Reuters
The 81st Golden Globe Awards ushered in a new era at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles on Sunday night. The show was the first to air under the ownership of Penske Media Eldridge, marking the end of a scandal-filled Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) run.
Expectations were high thanks to a diverse new voting body, the end of the Hollywood strikes and movie-lovers still riding that summer Barbenheimer box office rush. So, how did the “new” Globes fare under first-time host Jo Koy? The Globe and Mail presents the good, bad and downright ugly moments from the awards show that, against the odds, continues to exist.
The Bear stars Ayo Edebiri and Jeremy Allen White pose with their awards during the 81st Annual Golden Globe Awards, in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Jan. 7.MARIO ANZUONI/Reuters
The good
A new day: There were many problems with the HFPA, but a glaring one was the lack of diversity among its voting members. The new Globes spent the past year trying to rectify that with a new voting body comprising 300 international journalists – with a reported 60 per cent diverse makeup.
Several of the night’s upsets went to racialized people. Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers) took home the best supporting actress trophy in a musical or comedy, beating out presumed winner America Ferrera (Barbie). Ali Wong and Steven Yeun won in the best acting categories for limited TV series over favourites like Brie Larson (Lessons in Chemistry) and Jon Hamm (Fargo). And no one was more surprised than Ayo Edebiri (The Bear) when she won best actress in a TV comedy or musical over Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) and Natasha Lyonne (Poker Face).
Ayo’s big assist: Speaking of Edebiri, her earnest acceptance speech won the audience and viewers praised her on X (formerly Twitter) for thanking not just her agents and managers, but also their assistants, who answer all her “crazy, crazy emails.” Even nominee Taylor Swift (Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour) shook her head emphatically in agreement.
Oppenheimer gets his day: Moviegoers beware because Christopher Nolan may have given filmmakers even more reason to deliver three-hour-plus movies. Oppenheimer won five of its eight nominations, including best director, best actor (Cillian Murphy), best supporting actor (Robert Downey Jr.) and best motion picture. It was an expected winning streak that added surprising comfort to an otherwise car wreck of a show and set the film up for some big wins at the Oscars in March. Start filling out your office pool ballot now.
Succession’s swan song: If The Bear was the night’s big TV comedy winner (it took home best comedy and a repeat best actor win for Jeremy Allen White), Succession reigned in the drama department, where it won best TV drama and nabbed acting wins for Sarah Snook, Matthew Macfadyen and Kieran Culkin. It was Culkin’s down-to-earth, oh-so-Roman Roy speech that resonated most, though. After recalling his first Golden Globes loss as a child, he jokingly told Pedro Pascal off and cradled his trophy like it was the deed to Waystar Royco.
Most meaningful acceptance speech: Lily Gladstone embraced her heritage during her acceptance for best female actor in a motion picture, drama, for her work in Killers of the Flower Moon by delivering some of her best actress speech in Blackfeet. Gladstone went on to address the historic win and the importance of language, and it was a shame that the victory was the second-last of the evening and not earlier, when more viewers were likely paying close attention.
The bad
The host without the most: To watch Jo Koy emcee these new Globes was to watch a man’s career implode in real time. He came out as a fanboy, then sunk his fangs into several attendees, with awkward timing and a confusing delivery that had many attendees – including Taylor Swift – not even bothering to hide their displeasure. As the opening continued, the atmosphere grew increasingly awkward. Love or hate Ricky Gervais, at least he was honest about his intentions.
Goodbye, Cecil and Carol: Owing to time constraints, this year’s Globes put the Cecil B. DeMille and Carol Burnett awards on pause. After the positive reaction to last year’s winners (Eddie Murphy and Ryan Murphy, respectively), the eliminations were a head-scratcher, notably since this year’s show also introduced two new categories: best performance in stand-up comedy on television and cinematic and box office achievement.
Sorry, Swifties: Heading into the night, the latter award addition seemed like an excuse to invite Taylor Swift and her hordes of Swifties to the party. The Eras Tour surpassed US$1-billion in revenue in December, and the film version of her show has given access to thousands of fans unable to secure a ticket. Her win seemed inevitable.
Until it didn’t. Barbie – the most nominated film of the night – lost in nearly every category, but won in this one. Considering how many people dressed up to see this film, the category win was deserved. But that didn’t make it any less awkward as the cameras panned to Swift in the audience during Margot Robbie’s speech.
A celebrity obstacle course: Whoever put together this year’s seating chart will have a lengthy post-mortem tomorrow. Too many winners had to swerve and veer to the circular stage, and a lack of a podium meant the winners had nowhere to put their trophies while holding onto their speeches.
This image released by CBS shows host Jo Koy during the 81st Annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024.Sonja Flemming/The Associated Press
The weirdest
No laughing matter: While many are of the mindset that a pedophile joke is never funny, presenter Jim Gaffigan apparently disagrees. He dove into his version of one while presenting the night’s other new category, best stand-up. It got worse when Ricky Gervais won. Gervais may have won over (some) viewers with his hosting skills in the past, but he burned plenty of celebrities along the way. Not only was the audience unenthusiastic about the win, but then Gervais didn’t even show up to accept.
Actors forget to act: With the exception of Andra Day and Jon Batiste (two singers, not actors, who remembered they were there to entertain), the presenters were awkward, off their marks and long-winded. A Suits reunion fell flat. Social media users wondered why Kevin Costner bothered showing up. Various presented didn’t know which camera to look at, and it seemed no one rehearsed.
Jo Koy cancels himself: There’s no doubt Koy’s opening was terrible, but the jokes grew full-out cringeworthy when he called out his own writers. “I got the gig 10 days ago!” he yelled. “You want a perfect monologue? Yo, shut up. You’re kidding me, right? Slow down. I wrote some of these, and they’re the ones you’re laughing at.”
In the words of Will Ferrell, “The Globes have not changed.”