“This is the Golden Globes, one of the few places left where America still honors the popular vote,” joked host Jimmy Fallon as he commenced Sunday evening’s festivities. But that was only the beginning of the Trump jabs. Actor Hugh Laurie even jested that the president-elect would eradicate the awards event after taking office.
Ultimately, if the Golden Globes was any indicator, 2017 will be just as fractious as 2016. And Hollywood will be just as political. Here we’ve collected several of the night’s most telling moments.
Political Statements: “F—ck Paul Ryan”
Meryl Streep stole the spotlight with her Cecil B. DeMille Award acceptance speech, which focused largely on Donald Trump. Without ever mentioning the president-elect by name, the celebrated actress condemned his “instinct to humiliate,” and called upon Hollywood to support the press against attacks from the new administration.
Then the celebrity gushing commenced. Law & Order actor Chris Meloni tweeted that Streep “is a goddess,” while Jane the Virgin star Gina Rodriguez enthused: “Meryl, you give me life.”
After winning Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Hugh Laurie delivered several of his own Trump digs. "People wonder what it would have been like if King Joffrey (the evil boy-king from Game of Thrones) had lived. Well, in 12 days, we’re about to find out," he quipped according to USA Today. He also intimated that 2017 could see the end of the Golden Globes because the event is sponsored by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. “I don’t mean to be gloomy,” he explained amidst laughter. “It’s just it has the words ‘Hollywood,’ ‘foreign’ and ‘press’ in the title.”
Fashion also got political.
Black-ish actress Tracee Ellis Ross told People that she planned to sell her Golden Globes jewelry “and give all the money to Planned Parenthood and the ACLU.” She continued, “It’s that kind of year, folks.”
Actress Lola Kirke proudly sported her custom-made “Fuck Paul Ryan” pin, informing Elle.com that she was inspired by the Speaker’s talk of defunding Planned Parenthood. “I think that, along with a number of other decisions that are being talked about being made by the new administration, is atrocious… My body my choice, your body your choice.” Kirke also debuted another feminist statement—her unshaven armpits. (Her body, her choice!)
Twitter Culture: “Waiting to Pounce”
When NBC correspondent and former first daughter Jenna Bush Hager interviewed artist and composer Pharell Williams, she flubbed and asked him about his nomination for Hidden Fences. Williams had actually composed the score for Hidden Figures.
The Twitterverse quickly ridiculed Hager for her mix-up of that film and Fences – both of which have predominantly African American casts. Slate senior editor Sam Adams went so far as to say that “Jenna Bush doesn’t care about black movies,” a reference to Kanye West’s post-Katrina slander of her dad.
During Hager's tearful apology on the Today show, anchor Al Roker condemned Twitter’s culture of “waiting to pounce.” And Hidden Figures star Ocatvia Spencer gracefully added by tweet: “We all make mistakes, hon! Thanks for your apology!”
#GoldenGlobesSoWhite
Daily Beast senior entertainment reporter Kevin Fallon was not impressed with the whole event, dismissing it as “infuriating” and “tone-deaf.” Besides his particular beef against Jimmy Fallon (who “chose to be complicit in anointing [Trump] a fun-and-friendly guy”), the journalist riffed on La La Land. The popular film racked up six awards, and Fallon was not impressed with the cast’s words on the difficulty of creating an original musical.
“On a night that was defined by tone-deafness and poor optics,” he opined, “maybe dial back the gushing about how hard it was to get that story made in front of the creatives behind Moonlight, Fences, Atlanta, Insecure, Hidden Figures, and black-ish—people of color trying to tell stories of color with no guarantee that there will be an audience or critics or an industry out there willing to receive it, let alone appreciate it.”
Same-sex Kissing: “Because Why the Hell Not?”
The liberal media got excited by the same sex lovin’ that went down over the course of the evening. In all instances, the couples were just friends...making for a strange vibe.
In his opening video, Golden Globes host Jimmy Fallon danced and romanced with actor Justin Timberlake in what The Daily Beast called “an elongated, dated homophobic gag.”
When Ryan Reynolds lost the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Motion Picture, he and actor Andrew Garfield embraced and kissed on the lips. “Wouldn’t you want to be comforted by Andrew Garfield’s lips if you just lost the Golden Globe to Ryan Gosling?” Huffington Post Entertainment Editor Stephanie Marcus enthused. “Of course you would.” Vox’s Alex Abad-Santos opined that the kiss made “the Golden Globes great again.”
Huffington Post also noted that actress Sarah Paulson gave a similar smooch to her friend Amanda Peet, “because why the hell not.”
