Tina Fey and Amy Poehler ripped the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for having no black members during their Golden Globes monologue to crowds mostly filled with first responders on Sunday.
The returning co-hosts also packed their speech with jokes addressing the pandemic and ‘all the fantastic TV shows you binged this year: the American Office, old Columbos and very one-sided news programs.’
Fey, 50, broadcast from the Rainbow Room at 30 Rock in New York City – where ‘indoor dining and outdoor muggings are back.’
Poehler, 49, joined her from the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles while celebrities called in to the awards show from video remote streams and the only celebrities present were the ones who handed out awards.
The latest: Tina Fey, 50, and Amy Poehler, 49, were fearless in delivering the Golden Globes monologue Sunday with jabs at the HFPA’s diversity problem, James Corden and Kate Hudson among other remarks
The Golden Globes were held remotely with only a small crowd of socially distanced first responders in attendance on both coasts
Frontline and essential workers attend as guests during the 78th Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Rainbow Room in New York City
Golden Globe hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler addressed the ‘smoking hot first responders and essential workers’ in the crowd
Because of coronavirus protocols, only first responders and some celebrities presenting awards were seated in the crowd
‘Normally, this room is full of celebrities but tonight our audience, on both coasts, is made up of smoking hot first responders and essential workers,’ Fey said to cheers from the crowd, who were seated at socially distanced stations.
‘We are so grateful for the work that you do and that you’re here so the celebrities can stay safely at home.’
Poehler then chimed in to explain to the crowd that the Golden Globes are awarded by the HFPA, since the crowd of essential workers is not normally in attendance.
Fey brought up the controversy that unfurled amid the recent revelation there were no black journalists amid the 87 members in the HFPA.
‘The Hollywood Foreign Press Association is made up of around 90 international – no black – journalists who attend movie junkets each year in search of a better life,’ Fey said.
The HFPA came under fire this past week after the Los Angeles Times discovered that the group has no Black members and Hollywood celebrities and industry guilds have since voiced criticism.
‘A cosmetic fix isn’t enough. When whole cultures are shut out of the conversation, their art and their voices are shut out as well,’ the Directors Guild, which has 18,000 members, wrote on Facebook.
Sean Penn, pictured, was one of the celebrities who presented in person from Beverly Hills during the 78th Annual Golden Globe Awards
Award honorees like Carol Burnett Award winner Norman Lear, center, tuned into the event remotely via online video feeds to accept their awards
Later returning to jokes at the expense of the HFPA, Poehler said, ‘This is probably something we should’ve told you guys about earlier. Everybody is understandably upset at the HFPA and their choices.’
‘Look, a lot of flashy garbage got nominated but that happens, okay? That’s like their thing. But a number of black actors and black-led projects were overlooked.’
Fey said, ‘Look, we all know award shows are stupid … the point is, even with stupid things, inclusivity is important and there are no black members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
‘I realize, HFPA you many not have gotten the memo because your workplace is the back booth of a French McDonald’s, but you got to change that.’
Poehler said she is ‘looking forward to that change.’
In a subsequent segment on the show, HFPA officials acknowledged the issues and pledged to focus their efforts on improving things moving forward.
‘We’ll look feared to a more inclusive future,’ HFPA President Ali Sar said. ‘That means creating an environment where diverse membership is the norm, not the exception.’
Ex-HFPA President Meher Tatna said, ‘We must ensure everyone from all underrepresented communities get a seat at our table -and we are going to make that happen.’
In part of the monologue, Fey and Poehler tried to explain the difference between movies and TV shows, taking a jab at the pandemic and the quality of entertainment content released since movie theaters were closed.
‘If it stars Matthew McConaughey as a poetic drifter, it’s a car commercial,’ Poehler said, joking about the star’s Lincoln commercials.
Fey added: ‘In movies its called human trafficking but on TV its called 90 Day Fiance.’
The comedy duo then went on to explain some of the movies and shows nominated for awards, targeting James Corden for his appearance in the musical The Prom.
Corden’s performance had been slammed as homophobic after the actor, who is straight, played a gay character in the Netflix film, which got a low 55 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
‘The Queen’s Gambit is whatever James Corden was up to in The Prom,’ Fey joked.
‘The Prom came out at the perfect time because this year so many teenagers didn’t get to go to their prom this year so they could James Corden and Meryl Streep go to it instead.’
Fey then again targeted the the HFPA while explaining the Pixar movie Soul.
‘Soul is a beautiful Pixar animated movie where a middle age black man’s soul accidentally gets knocked out of his body and into a cat. The HFPA really responded to this movie because they do have two cat members,’ Fey said.
They also joked, ‘Sia’s Music is nominated for best international flop-eroonie … and I don’t want to get into guys, but it’s real problematic, and Twitter is saying that it’s the worst casting since Kate Hudson became a Weight Watchers spokesperson.’
The two hosts slammed Music, which is nominated for best motion picture, after Sia apologized for a scene in which a character with autism played by Maddie Ziegler is restrained in a dangerous manner.
Fey brought up the controversy that unfurled amid the recent revelation there were no black journalists amid the 87 members in the HFPA
Double trouble: Fey was broadcasting from New York City’s Rainbow Room, while Poehler was at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles
Repeat: Poehler and Fey returned to host for the fourth time; the comedy duo did the honors in 2013, 2014 and 2015
Queens of comedy: The duo headlines the first-ever awards show to be broadcast from two separate coasts with Fey in New York and Poehler in Los Angeles
Later in the awards show, Sacha Baron Cohen accepted the Golden Globe award for Best Comedy or Musical film for Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.
‘Thank you to the all white Hollywood Foreign Press,’ Baron Cohen said at the start of his acceptance speech.
‘I’ve got to say, this movie could not have been possible without my co-star, a fresh new talent who came from nowhere and turned out to be a comedy genius. I’m talking about Rudy Giuliani. I mean, who can get more laughs out of one unzipping? Incredible.’
He continued by addressing other scandals faced by the Trump lawyer.
‘Our movie was just the beginning for him. Rudy went on to star in a string of comedy films. Hits like Four Seasons Landscaping, Hair Dye Another Day, and the courtroom drama A Very Public Fart.’
Baron Cohen later made a quip at Trump contesting the results of the 2020 election when he won Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical.
‘Hold on, Donald Trump is contesting the result. He’s claiming a lot of dead people voted, which is a very rude thing to say about the HFPA,’ he joked.
Jokes: Fey said of the late night host, ‘The Queen’s Gambit is … whatever James Corden was up to in The Prom I guess’
The joke was a reference to controversy of James Corden playing a gay character in the Netflix film despite not being gay
Yikes! Kate Hudson’s efforts in Sia’s Music fell under scrutiny from the duo as appears virtually on Twitter’s livestream of the event
This year’s ceremony, which usually takes place in early January, was pushed back to February 28 as Hollywood continues to adjust to the coronavirus pandemic and new safety guidelines.
Poehler and Fey returned to host for the fourth time. The comedy duo did the honors in 2013, 2014 and 2015.
It is the first ever awards show to be broadcast from two separate coasts.
Netflix smash-hit Emily in Paris found itself as one of the more controversially nominated shows, landing a nomination for best TV series, musical or comedy. The show’s star, Lily Collins, also got a nod for best actress.
Much of the uproar surrounding the nomination stems from the snubbing of Michaela Coel, whose HBO drama I May Destroy You failed to land any nominations.
Deborah Copaken, one of the writers of Emily in Paris, even spoke out to criticize the Hollywood Foreign Press for shunning Coel.
Copaken tweeted that it was ‘just wrong’, and later expanded on her thoughts in an op-ed for the Guardian.
Coast-to-coast: Fey, 50, was broadcasting from New York City’s Rainbow Room, while Poehler, 49, was at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles
‘Am I excited that Emily in Paris was nominated? Yes. Of course. I’ve never been remotely close to seeing a Golden Globe statue up close, let alone being nominated for one,’ she wrote.
‘But that excitement is now unfortunately tempered by my rage over Coel’s snub. That I May Destroy You did not get one Golden Globe nod is not only wrong, it’s what is wrong with everything.
‘We need art that reflects all of our colors, not just some. But we also need to give awards to shows (and music and films and plays and musicals) that deserve them, no matter the color of the skin of their creators,’ she went on to write.
Last year’s 77th Golden Globes, hosted by Ricky Gervais, averaged 19.2 million viewers, making it one of the most-watched network telecasts of 2020.
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