The 77th annual Golden Globe Awards were last night. Ricky Gervais returned to host the kudofest for his fifth (and final?”) time, tearing into Hollywood for his first time at the podium since 2016.
It was a long night as usual – but this time around? Jam-packed with firsts and history-making moments. For example, this time the ceremony went green, serving vegan courses all night long. Here are the highlights:
- Let’s dive right in to the British funnyman’s savage opening monologue. As expected – and as he warned – it was brutal… but in a new-and-improved kind of way! To the surprise of nobody, shots were taken at Felicity Huffman and William H Macy over “Operation Varsity Blues.” Plus, Gervais called Joe Pesci “Baby Yoda” and got some groans from the crowd with his Jeffrey Epstein joke in reference to his Netflix show, “After Life.” Even Leonardo DiCaprio couldn’t help but accept his fate when Gervais called out his dating habits. “Leo DiCaprio attended the premiere [of ‘Once Upon A Time In Hollywood’],” ,” Gervais cracked. “And by the end, his date was too old for him.”
- Tom Hanks accepted the Cecil B. deMille Award, celebrating his amazing acting career. Even more legendary were all the mugs he was pulling at the camera all night – perfect meme material! But in all seriousness, his acceptance speech was extra emotional as he battled a cold that night – it even had the Oscar-winner choking up.
- Brad Pitt had three exes to dodge all night. Jennifer Aniston, Gwyneth Paltrow and Christina Applegate were all there. And when he accepted his best supporting actor win, he joked, “I wanted to bring my mom but I couldn’t, because anyone I stand next to, they say I’m dating. And that would just be awkward.” For the record, Aniston laughed – and we know that because the camera panned to her.
- Comedian Kate McKinnon presented Ellen DeGeneres with the Carol Burnett Award. DeGeneres, like many that night, made sure to make a statement about the Australian wildfire – especially since her wife Portia de Rossi is from Down Under. After listing off some of her biggest inspiration in entertainment – like Lucille Ball and Mary Tyler Moore – Ellen got some laughs for thanking her “husband Mark,” rather than Portia… then told her “children,” “Rupert and Fiona,” to go to bed.
- Awkwafina made history as the first Asian performer to win Best Actress in a film category for her role in “The Farewell.” Her victory cry? “I told you I’d get a job, dad.” Yeah, big time.
- Joaquin Phoenix is a notable skeptic of Hollywood’s kudofests… and it showed last night during his acceptance speech for Best Actor for “Joker.” His rambling speech included multiple F-bombs, mostly about Hollywood, but it also included a lot of props. He lauded the Globes for going green, and told the room full of his colleagues to make sure they do something more for Australia than send thoughts and prayers. He also gave a huge thanks to “Joker” director Todd Phillips for “convincing” him to join the project and “be sincere.” “I am such a pain in the a**,” he said. “Thank you so much for putting up with me.”