Golden Globes recap: Host Ricky Gervais tears into Hollywood elite, winners get political
Jonathan Hunt reports from Los Angeles on the night's biggest moments.
Comedian Ricky Gervais took to the Golden Globes stage as host and immediately hit Hollywood right where it deserved it — below the belt.
Gervais offended all the right, or should I say left, people. He mocked the Hollywood Foreign Press as “all very, very racist”; said there was no “In Memoriam” segment dedicated to those who died because “it wasn’t diverse enough”; and reminded everyone they were friends with now-deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The comedian’s quote of the night blasted the leftist award show world. “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.”
GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS HOST RICKY GERVAIS TEARS INTO HOLLYWOOD ELITE, DISNEY, AMAZON, APPLE
It was the comeuppance that “woke” celebrities deserved, but weren’t able to prepare for enough. Hollywood was notably uncomfortable in response. Actor Tom Hanks’ reaction face went viral as he held his breath and stared at the floor.
Gervais didn’t just bite the hand that feeds Hollywood. He took an enormous bite out of Apple. He commended the firm’s TV shows and bashed it as “a company that runs sweatshops in China.”
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Then Gervais went in for the kill: "You say you're woke, but the companies you work for, unbelievable," he said. "Apple, Amazon, Disney. If ISIS started a streaming service, you'd all call your agent."
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The lefty press was furious and stood up for the entertainment world stridently against … comedy. The Ringer called Gervais “the Sneering, Purposefully Intolerable Golden Globes Host” and Slate ran a piece about his jokes “Ranked in Order of Dickishness.”
Los Angeles Times TV Critic Lorraine Ali slammed the “gloom-and-doom monologue so cynical it made the effervescent Tom Hanks scowl.” She aggressively defended the Hollywood left. “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.”
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Gervais got the same reaction on the East Coast. New York Times Chief TV Critic James Poniewozik made fun of how the host said he didn’t care about hosting. “Gervais himself doesn’t care about the Globes so much that he was hosting them for the fifth time.” Except Poniewozik was so PC himself that he cut out the Thunberg mention from the joke.
All in all, Gervais delivered what comedy used to be all about — fun. Hollywood will be sure to forget it as soon as possible.