Golden Globes 2020: Ricky Gervais' most controversial moments
The 2020 Golden Globes on Sunday marks Ricky Gervais' fifth time as host. Here are some of his most controversial moments.
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The Hollywood glitterati knew what they were in for at the very start of Sunday night’s 77th Golden Globes ceremony.
Five-time host, and ruthless bomb thrower, comedian Ricky Gervais dared to utter the reason millions of Americans have been abandoning these award shows for years, warning those gathered:
“If you do win an award tonight, don’t use it as a political 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. OK?”
Sadly, few heeded his advice.
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What should have been a celebration of some fine films (“Once Upon A Time in Hollywood,” “Knives Out,” “The Irishman”) devolved into ad hoc political grandstanding for pet causes of little concern to the viewers at home.
Actress Patricia Arquette won a statuette for a TV film, ‘The Act’ few have probably ever even heard of. But they did get to hear Arquette’s punditry: "We're not going to look back on this night in the history books…We will see a country on the brink of war, the USA -- a president tweeting out a threat of 52 bombs, including cultural sites ... I beg of us all to give [our kids] a better world."
Then actress Michelle Williams, who won a Golden Globe for a standout performance as Gwen Verdon in FX’s “Fosse/Verdon,” spent her time, not talking about the role that earned her the award, but about abortion.
Referencing her own career, 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”-- before urging women to storm the ballot boxes in November. This is as close to religious fervor as you’re likely to find in the Beverly Hills Hilton.
At one point Gervais’ acid-laced arrow hit a little too close to home when he said the Hollywood heavyweights “all have one thing in common — they’re all terrified of Ronan Farrow.” Then in a menacing tone, he warned, “He’s coming for you.” Laughter was scarce, but troubled looks abounded. It was also odd that in a year when Hollywood continued to mouth platitudes about respecting women, and #MeToo sensitivities ran high, that the Golden Globe stage saw more cleavage than the San Andreas Fault.
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Between Joaquin Phoenix’s rambling plea for celebs to lay off private jets and dire climate change warnings, there were some uplifting moments. Tom Hanks in his Globes lifetime achievement speech showed genuine gratitude for his fellow creatives and the craft of acting. Awkwafina, the first Asian to win in the Leading Actress category dedicated her award to her father, deceased mother, “And to my grandma, my best friend, the woman who raised me.”
But all this must be put in context. The Golden Globes have always been something of a joke to people in Hollywood. Though it is the kickoff of the award season, it’s the award most susceptible to voter manipulation.
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There are only 90 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association who vote on the Golden Globes, and most of them have reached their pension years. As a Golden Globe winner told me last night: “For a couple of drinks and a ham, they’d give Weinstein a lifetime achievement award.”
It was just this hypocrisy and the shameless virtue-signaling that surrounds it that Ricky Gervais skewered all evening. Even when he praised Apple TV+’s breakout series ‘The Morning Show’ as a “superb drama”, he couldn’t resist adding: “about the importance of dignity and doing the right thing made by a company who owns sweatshops in China. You say you’re woke but the companies you work for — Apple, Amazon, Disney — if ISIS started a streaming service, you would call your agent, wouldn’t you?”
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The Los Angeles Times TV critic, Lorainne Ali, panned Gervais's performance, writing: “The mood was already sober thanks to an impeachment, the threat of war with Iran and devastating bush fires in Australia. The last thing anyone needed was for the smirking master of ceremonies to reprimand them for having hope, or taunt the room for trying to use their influence to change things for the better.” She claims that Gervais was “disingenuous” and couldn’t “read the room.”
In truth, Gervais may have been one of the few people at the Golden Globes who was accurately “reading” and reflecting how the living rooms across the country really feel.