The 81st Golden Globes took place on January 7th of this year, hosted by comedian and actor, Jo Koy. This year had many ups and downs and even a historic moment, so here’s all you need to know.
As it has for many years now, the Golden Globes took place in the ballroom of the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills. Stars started the evening by walking down the red carpet to get photographed. They then proceeded to the ceremony where food and drinks were served and awards were presented. The night started off right away with some controversy. In Koy’s opening monologue, he started off with some typical award show jokes and a basic monologue. It then took a turn for the worse. When comparing two of the biggest movies of the summer, Oppenheimer and Barbie, he talked about how Oppenheimer, even though it is long, is based on a prize winning book while “Barbie is on a plastic doll with big boobies”. His joke received little to no laughs nor applause. His condescending remark contradicts the whole reason the movie was made, which was to show how women are put down by men in today’s society and the unfair treatment women receive. Another head turning remark he made was on Taylor Swift. Koy said, “The big difference between the Golden Globes and the NFL? At the Golden Globes, we have fewer camera shots on Taylor Swift.” Again, he received very little praise for that quote and Swift’s reaction was not pleasant either. He made many other digs towards stars, including Harry and Megan on their Netflix deal, which also was not well received. Once Koy eventually realized most of his jokes were not being well received, he tried to pass blame to the writers and the limited time he had, but none of the excuses justified his derogatory and disrespectful jokes.
However, the show was not just full of lows as there were also many highs. The movie of the summer, Barbie, won two awards out of the nine it was nominated for, a fabulous bounce back from the negative monologue. Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas also won for “Best Original Song” for their song “What Was I Made For” that was featured in the movie.
In addition to that, Lily Gladstone was the first indigenous person to win “Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture” for her work in Killers of the Flower Moon. Gladstone went on to speak the first few sentences of their acceptance speech in Siksika, which is the language of the Blackfeet nation that they belong to. This historic moment allowed for important representation of Indigenous people in Hollywood and all around the world. Oppenheimer, also a huge movie last summer, won a total of five awards, the most of the night. Another notable win was for Emma Stone who won “Best Female Actor” for her work in Poor Things.
Even with the controversial hosting moments, the accomplishments achieved by a multitude of stars and movies helped to make this a year we would never forget.
