The 80th Golden Globes Awards was presented on Tuesday in Los Angeles, after a year without untelevised ceremony.
Host Jerrod Carmichael opened the show by addressing the reason it was missing from the airways last year, amid complaints about the lack of diversity and inclusivity within the Hollywood Foreign Press, its governing body.
The awards show was on hiatus last year after a Los Angeles Times exposé revealed that its awarding body did not have a single Black member, as well as “ethical lapses” in its business conduct.
Kicking off the show on Tuesday, 10 January, comedian Carmichael began by saying: “I’ll tell you why I’m here. I’m here because I’m Black.”
The host continued: “I won’t say the HFPA is racist but, they didn’t have a single Black member until George Floyd died – do with that information what you will.”
Carmichael went on to describe the process of being offered the hosting gig and feeling conflicted as to whether to accept.
“One minute you’re making mint tea at home, the next you’re invited to be the Black face of an embattled white organisation,” he told the crowd of celebrities.
From there, Carmichael decided to reach out to a close friend for guidance.
“I did what I do when I have a moral racial dilemma. I call the homegirl Avery, who for the sake of this monologue represents every Black person in America,” Charmichael teased. “And I said to Avery, I said, ‘Avery, they asked me to host the Golden Globes.’ I said, ‘You know, what should I do?’ And she said, ‘Oh, Buki, I’m so proud of you. Now, remind me what awards show is that again?’
“And I told her what the show was, and I told her about how last year didn’t air because of the no Black people thing. And she was like, ‘Well, how much are they paying you?’ And I said, ‘Well, Avery, it’s not about the money.
“Honestly, it’s about the moral question of rather, I should elaborate.’ She said, ‘ … How much are they paying you?’ and I said, ‘$500,000.’ And she said, ‘Boy, if you don’t put on a good suit and take the White people’s money.’
All was good until Carmichael was asked to have a meeting with Helen Hoehne, president of the HFPA, which he jokingly called “a trap.”
“‘They’re not really asking, Jerrod. They’re insisting that you take the meeting,'” he recalled being told. “And I’m like, ‘Or what? They’re gonna fire me? They hadn’t had a Black host in 79 years. They’re gonna fire the first one? I’m unfireable.”
Carmichael continued: “and it came back again a third time. They were like, ‘you know, Jerrod, Helen really just wants to educate you on the changes that the organization has made in regard to diversity.’ And I’ll be totally honest with everyone here tonight.
“I don’t really need to hear that. I took this job assuming they hadn’t changed at all. At all. I heard they got six new black members; congrats to them, whatever, sure, but it’s not why I’m here.”
Instead, he noted he was there because of all the people in the room he admired.
“And regardless of whatever the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s past may be, this is an evening where we get to celebrate, and I think this industry deserves evenings like these, and I’m happy you all are here, and I’m happy I’m here, and I hope you have some fun tonight,” he concluded.
He also teased that the organization “got six new Black members,” adding, “Congrats to them!” but saying that he took the job not even expecting that the HFPA would have made any changes.
Carmichael also dropped what may turn out to be his most biting joke in a brief bit he did coming back from commercial midway through Tuesday’s show.
Carmichael walked onstage with three statuettes in his arms and told the audience they were the hardware that Tom Cruise returned to the HFPA in protest in May 2021, following revelations about a lack of diversity and allegations of impropriety within the organization awarding the Globes.
The trophies Cruise sent back are the Best Actor prize he won for Jerry Maguire, the Best Actor prize he won for Born on the Fourth of July and the Best Supporting Actor prize he won for Magnolia.
“I think maybe we take these three things and exchange them for the safe return of Shelly Miscavige,” he suggested, mentioning (and mispronouncing the name of) the wife of Scientology leader David Miscavige. Sounds of surprise and a few whoops that went up from the audience.
Former Scientologists, Leah Remini among them, have expressed concern for the wellbeing of Miscavige, with Remini saying she filed a missing persons report with the LAPD.
Scientology, for its part, denied in 2018 that Shelly Miscavige was missing.
Even more awkward than Carmichael’s joke itself was the fact that he made it directly before introducing Cruise’s Top Gun: Maverick co-stars Glen Powell and Jay Ellis as presenters.
The duo was left to walk out onstage with the quip still hanging in the air.