Ricky Gervais stole the show as host of the 73rd annual Golden Globe Awards Sunday night, mixing his signature brand of politically incorrect humor with some sharp barbs aimed at Hollywood’s best and brightest.
This year’s ceremony featured a number of big upsets; Gael Garcia Bernal (Mozart in the Jungle) beat out Jeffery Tambor (Transparent) for Best Actor in a TV Comedy or Musical, and Mr. Robot won Best TV Drama, beating out perennial favorite Game of Thrones. In a bit of a controversial move, The Martian was entered and won the Best Motion Picture Comedy category (“To be fair, The Martian was a lot funnier than Pixels. But then again, so was Schindler’s List,” Gervais quipped).
But apart from those upsets, everything pretty much went as planned; Leonardo DiCaprio won Best Actor for The Revenant, and Brie Larson won Best Actress for Room (both are favored to repeat the win at next month’s Oscars). Jennifer Lawrence picked up Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical for Joy, and Matt Damon won the same award for The Martian. In a sweet moment, Sylvester Stallone got a warm standing ovation when he picked up his-first ever Golden Globe, Best Supporting Actor for Creed.
On the TV side, Jon Hamm earned his second Best Actor Golden Globe for Mad Men, while Empire‘s Taraji P. Henson took home Best Actress. Christian Slater (Mr. Robot) and Maura Tierney (The Affair) won the supporting actors’ categories and Oscar Isaac delivered a win for HBO’s miniseries Show Me a Hero.
Below, check out some of the highlights (and lowlights) from Sunday night’s show.
1. Ricky Gervais’s monologue
Gervais didn’t let anyone off the hook in his opening speech; Jennifer Lawrence, Sean Penn, Roman Polanski, Bruce Jenner, and Jeffery Tambor all got roasted in the evening’s first few minutes.
“You disgusting, pill-popping, sexual deviant scum,” the comedian began. “I’m going to do this monologue and then go into hiding. Not even Sean Penn will find me… snitch.”
Some of Gervais’s sharpest lines:
“I’m going to be nice tonight. I’ve changed; not as much as Bruce Jenner. Obviously. Now Caitlyn Jenner, of course. What a year she’s had! She became a role model for trans people everywhere, showing great bravery in breaking down barriers and destroying stereotypes. She didn’t do a lot for women drivers. But you can’t have everything, can you? Not at the same time.”
“Jennifer Lawrence made the news when she demanded equal pay for women in Hollywood. She received overwhelming support from people everywhere. There were marches on the street with nurses and factory workers saying, ‘How the hell can a 25-year-old live on $52 million?!’”
“All-female remakes are the big thing. There’s a female remake of Ghostbusters. There’s going to be a female remake of Ocean’s 11. And this is brilliant for the studios because they get guaranteed box office results and they don’t have to spend too much money on the cast.”
But the best part of Gervais’s speech was when he said exactly what most viewers watching at home were thinking: “Remember if you do win tonight, no one cares about that award as much as you do. Don’t get emotional, it’s embarrassing. That award is, no offense, worthless.”
2. Jamie Foxx Makes Fun of Steve Harvey
After reading the nominees for Best Original Score, Jamie Foxx announced Straight Outta Compton as the winner. There was just one problem: it wasn’t nominated.
“I’m sorry, folks, I made a mistake,” Foxx joked in a parody of Harvey’s now-infamous Miss Universe blunder.
Funny stuff.
3. Quentin Tarantino Makes Ennio Morricone’s Original Score Win All About Himself, and Falsely Says the Composer Has Never Won an American Award. Also causes an uproar by using the word “ghetto.”
Ennio Morricone won the Best Original Score Golden Globe for The Hateful Eight. Accepting on his behalf was Quentin Tarantino, who boasted of directing the legendary composer’s first award-winning work. Problem is, Morricone’s won not just one but two Golden Globes, for 1986’s The Mission and 1998’s The Legend of 100.
Twitter users were quick to call him out.
Also, Tarantino caused a mini-uproar when he said that Morricone was the best-ever composer, and not just in the “ghetto” of movie composition. Tarantino meant to say “niche,” but the word caused an audible gasp in the room. Jamie Foxx wasn’t amused.
4. The Revenant Wins Big
DiCaprio’s win for Best Actor makes him the odds-on favorite to repeat at next month’s Academy Awards. Credit Leo for steering clear of the global warming hysteria in his acceptance speech, save for a vague reference to saving the planet for future generations in the closing moments.
Most had expected Spotlight to grab the award for Best Motion Picture Drama, but there was The Revenant to steal it away in the evening’s closing moments. Alejandro Inarritu also won Best Director for the film, and surprise surprise, no politics this time, a refreshing development.
Spotlight, the critically-acclaimed film about the Boston Globe‘s investigation into the Catholic Church sex scandal, failed to take home any awards.
5. NBC Censors the Good Stuff
One of the best segments of the night came when Gervais introduced Mel Gibson as a presenter, after having infamously trashed him during the 2010 Globes.
“Listen, I’m sure it’s embarrassing for both of us,” Gervais said. “I blame NBC for this terrible situation. Mel blames… we know who Mel blames. Listen, I still feel a bit bad for it. Mel’s forgotten all about it apparently — that’s what drinking does. I want to say something nice about Mel before he comes out, so: I’d rather have a drink with him in his hotel room tonight than with Bill Cosby.”
Gibson was apparently not amused, telling Gervais he would put him to sleep “in another way.”
So Gervais came back out and said something to Gibson before he left the stage, but the censors were all over it and bleeped it out. Viewers at home were left tantalized by what they couldn’t hear, particularly after the camera panned over to Alan Cumming, who looked like he’d never heard anything so offensive in his entire life.
After much speculation, the offending remark: “What the f–k does sugart-ts even mean?!”
Mark Wahlberg, Amy Schumer, and Jonah Hill also drew the wrath of the sensors over the course of the night. Twitter was annoyed.
6. Stallone Gets a Standing O (and Takes Heat for Failing to Thank Black C0-Stars)
Sylvester Stallone won his first Golden Globe for his supporting role in this summer’s Creed and got a really nice standing ovation from everyone in attendance. The sweet moment was short-lived, as the actor apparently forgot to thank co-star Michael B. Jordan and director Ryan Coogler during his acceptance speech.
Stallone reportedly returned to the stage after the broadcast cut to commercial and thanked both Jordan and Coogler.
Not to worry, though: Selma director Ava DuVernay and others were there to remind everyone what happened.
7. Gervais Again (Because He Really Was the Best Part of This Whole Thing)
Gervais really saved the night with his brief between-awards appearances after the opening monologue. The comedian introduced Matt Damon as “the only person Ben Affleck hasn’t been unfaithful to,” and Eva Longoria and America Ferrara as “two people who your future president, Donald Trump, can’t wait to deport.”
At one point, the broadcast resumed after a lengthy commercial break to see the visibly annoyed Gervais standing forlornly at the podium: “Kill me,” he deadpanned.
And Gervais couldn’t resist getting one more shot in as the credits rolled: “From myself and Mel Gibson, Shalom!”
Here is a complete list of the Golden Globes winners:
Best Motion Picture, Drama: The Revenant
Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama: Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama: Brie Larson, Room
Best Motion Picture, Comedy: The Martian
Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy: Jennifer Lawrence, Joy
Best Actress in a TV Series, Drama: Taraji P. Henson, Empire
Best Director, Motion Picture: Alejandro González Iñárritu, The Revenant
Best TV Series, Drama: Mr. Robot, USA Network
Best Original Song, Motion Picture: “Writing’s on the Wall,” Spectre
Best Actress in a Limited-Series or TV Movie: Lady Gaga, American Horror Story: Hotel
Best Foreign Language Film: Son of Saul, Hungary
Best Actor in a TV Series, Comedy: Gael García Bernal, Mozart in the Jungle
Best Screenplay, Motion Picture: Aaron Sorkin, Steve Jobs
Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture: Sylvester Stallone, Creed
Best Animated Feature Film: Inside Out
Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy: Matt Damon, The Martian
Best Actor in a TV Series, Drama: Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Limited-Series or TV Movie: Christian Slater, Mr. Robot
Best Actor in a Limited-Series or TV Movie: Oscar Isaac, Show Me a Hero
Best TV Movie or Limited-Series: Wolf Hall, PBS
Best TV Series, Musical or Comedy: Mozart in the Jungle, Amazon Video
Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Limited-Series or TV Movie: Maura Tierney, The Affair
Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture: Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs
Cecil B. DeMille Award: Denzel Washington