The rowdiest, booziest, most unpredictable awards show went down Sunday night, serving up just as many memorable moments as we’ve come to expect from the Golden Globes. Here are the best and worst moments from the HFPA’a 77th annual awards extravaganza.
That BLEEPing monologue
Nobody expected returning host Ricky Gervais to behave, exactly, but his opening monologue (which got bleeped twice) still surprised. Among the requisite friendly jokes about some of the attendees — Marvel movies-as-theme-parks critic Martin Scorsese is too short for theme park rides anyway, etc. — were cracks about Felicity Huffman’s involvement in the college admissions scandal; a nod to the room’s most feared figure, Ronan Farrow; and a “Jeffrey Epstein didn’t kill himself” joke. He closed with some acerbic words about streaming services (and stars appearing on them) up for TV awards. “You say you’re woke, but the companies you work for — I mean, unbelievable. Apple, Amazon, Disney,” he rattled off. “If Isis started a streaming service, you’d call your agent. Wouldn’t you? So if you do win an award tonight, don’t use it as a platform to make a political speech. You’re in no position to lecture the public about anything. You know nothing about the real world. Most of you spent less time in school than Greta Thunberg. So, if you win, come up, accept your little award, thank your agent and your god, and f— off.”
Kate, Carol, and Ellen
Paul Drinkwater/NBCUniversal Media, LLC via Getty Images
Ellen DeGeneres became the second person ever — after Carol Burnett herself — to be honored with the HFPA’s Carol Burnett Award, which recognizes achievements in television. Presenter Kate McKinnon introduced her with an emotional tribute, opening with a “list of things that Ellen DeGeneres has personally given me,” including a few pairs of sneakers and “a sense of self.” When DeGeneres herself took the stage, after joking about stretching out her speech and thanking her “husband Mark and kids,” she got serious, acknowledging Burnett’s influence and reflecting on what a joy it is to “make people feel good and to laugh” and hopefully to inspire her audience to make people laugh themselves. “That is the power of television, and I’m so, so grateful to be a part of it.”
A Barack Obama shout-out
Accepting the Globe for Best TV Series — Musical or Comedy, Fleabag creator-star Phoebe Waller-Bridge gave a special thanks to a famous fan of the series. “Personally, I’d like to also thank Obama for putting us on his list,” she said after thanking her collaborators, referring to the former POTUS’ list of 2019 pop culture favorites. “As some of you may know, he’s always been on mine.” (In the first season of Fleabag, Waller-Bridge’s title character masturbated to a video of the 44th president giving a speech.)
Everybody loves Tom Hanks
To introduce Tom Hanks, this year’s Cecil B. DeMille Award recipient, Charlize Theron recalled when he cast her in one of her first roles, in his first directorial effort, 1996’s That Thing You Do! After her emotional introduction, Hanks took the stage and thanked his family before sharing some of the lessons he’s learned over the course of his long career. “You just have to somehow put it all together, have faith in the process, and go there,” he said, adding that punctuality is the most “liberating” virtue for an actor. When you show up on time, he explained, “you have the liberty and freedom of being early enough to settle down because when the time comes, you have to hit the mark and you have to go there.”
Michelle Williams takes a stand
Just a few days after news broke of both a pregnancy and an engagement to her Fosse/Verdon director Thomas Kail, Michelle Williams accepted the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Limited Series and gave a powerful speech (recalling the strength of her turn at the podium at September’s Emmys, where she was honored for the same role) celebrating a woman’s right to choose. “I’ve tried my very best to live a life of my own making. Not just a series of events that happened to me, but one that I could stand back and look at and recognize my handwriting all over it,” she said. “I wouldn’t have been able to do this without employing a woman’s right to choose. To choose when to have my children and with whom.” She encouraged everyone watching — especially women — to remember this in November. “Women, 18 to 118, when it is time to vote, please do so in your own self-interest. It’s what men have been doing for years. Which is why the world looks so much like them. But don’t forget we are the largest voting body in this country. Let’s make it look more like us.”
Brad Pitt being Brad Pitt
Accepting the Globe for Best Supporting Actor in a movie for his performance in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Brad Pitt charmed the room to bits. “Holy moly!” the actor began. “Thank you to the eclectic and ever-raucous HFPA.” He went on to thank “the man, the myth, the legend” Quentin Tarantino, who directed him in the role, as well as his co-star Leonardo DiCaprio. “He’s an all-star. He’s a gent,” Pitt said. “Still…I would’ve shared the raft.” AllTitanic jokes aside, however, the iconic actor closed with a call for kindness: “Hey, if you see a chance to be kind to someone tomorrow, take it,” he said. “I think we need it.”
Joaquin Phoenix rocks the boat
“Contrary to popular belief, I don’t want to rock the boat,” said Joaquin Phoenix while collecting the Best Actor in a Motion Picture — Drama award for his performance in Joker. “But the boat has been f—ing rocked.” He expressed appreciation for the stars who took time to remind the room at the Beverly Hilton of the devastating wildfires in Australia, “but we have to do more than that,” he said, admitting that he has “not always been a virtuous man,” and is learning to do better himself. “It’s great to vote, but sometimes we have to take that responsibility on ourselves and make changes and sacrifices in our own lives.” For example? “We don’t have to take private jets to Palm Springs! I’ll try to do better and I hope you will too.”
Related content:
Golden Globes 2020: See the winners list
Stars hit the red carpet at the Golden Globe awards
