Elizabeth (Betsy) Walters
Elizabeth (Betsy) Walters is a PhD candidate in the American & New England Studies Program at Boston University, where she also earned her MFA in Film & Television Studies. Her research focuses on the ways in which the film and television industry constructs and perpetuates ideas of prestige and artistry through awards and festivals. Her dissertation examines how industrial shifts and cultural controversies have impacted the Academy Awards in the 21st century. Before graduate school, she worked for the nonprofit film awards organization CINE and in the film festival industry. She currently sits on the board of the Marvin Hamlisch International Music Awards.
“The Black face of an entitled White organization”:
A Consideration of the 80th Golden Globe Awards and Host Jerrod Carmichael
“Is this show boring or is it me? The host is awful.” If my mother’s text message was any indication, the “new and improved” Golden Globe Awards were off to a roaring start. It wasn’t just her; most awards shows are, to quote the great Johnny Carson during his first stint as Oscar host, “two hours of sparkling entertainment spread out over a four-hour show.”[1] However, as someone who studies the complicated web that is Hollywood’s prestige industry, the show represented a strange microcosm of the issues plaguing awards shows today: creaky institutions, dwindling audiences, and a business-as-usual approach to the ceremonies’ structure and format despite diminishing returns. Given their recent history, perhaps it was only fair that the Golden Globes have become the most prominent emblem of a struggling awards show circuit.
For those who give the Golden Globes the attention they rightfully deserve — that is, little to none — a brief bit of background is in order. The Golden Globes are one of the many annual awards ceremonies in which Hollywood celebrates itself, and they’re usually the first in a string of televised awards ceremonies that culminates in the film industry’s grand dame, the Oscars. Many major awards like the Oscars are presented by large guilds or “academies” comprised of film and TV industry members, but the Globes are one of the honors presented by film critics, in this case the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), a tiny collective of international entertainment journalists. In 2021, just before the 78th presentation of the Golden Globes, the HFPA was rocked by a cascading series of scandals. The first publicly revealed Hollywood’s worst-kept secret: HFPA members had been accepting gifts and trips from the studios, channels, and platforms that were prospective Golden Globe nominees.[2] The second revealed that the HFPA had no Black members — a dearth that was not just recent, but two decades old — and had rejected qualified Black applicants.[3] The omission was particularly glaring given that the Oscars had weathered a similar controversy, #OscarsSoWhite, just a few years prior; inexplicably, #OscarsSoWhite had not prompted the similarly-homogenous (if much smaller) HFPA to cast a critical glance inward and instead required a fresh, targeted reckoning. Hollywood’s elite quickly denounced the HFPA, most notably when superstar Tom Cruise publicly returned his three Golden Globes in disgust.[4] The Globes’ broadcasting partner, NBC, announced the show would not air in 2022, a year in which the Golden Globes were essentially presented via Twitter. However, after a year in which the HFPA publicly apologized, announced DEI initiatives, and invited a diverse group of new members, NBC relented: the 80th edition of the Golden Globes would be televised on a one-year contract, rather unceremoniously pushed to a Tuesday evening so as not to interfere with the network’s cash cow, Sunday Night Football. Though publicists had previously threatened to withhold their A-list clients from the show, most of the nominees showed up, a group that included industry powerhouses like Steven Spielberg (who won) and Brad Pitt (who didn’t, but whose presence at the front table was enough to distract several award winners mid- speech).[5] Overall, the HFPA and the Golden Globes seemed to have been cautiously forgiven, if clearly on probation.[6]
However, the host of the Golden Globes, comedian Jerrod Carmichael, immediately made clear that the HFPA could not publicly atone merely through press releases; instead, it would have to grapple with its shameful history on its own televised stage. Introducing himself, Carmichael started by blunting claiming, “I’ll tell you why I’m here. I’m here because I’m Black.”[7] Carmichael’s approach was not new; in 2016, Oscar host Chris Rock similarly spent much of his opening monologue flogging the Academy in the wake of #OscarsSoWhite.[8] Like Rock’s monologue, Carmichael’s brutal assault served a necessary function: it addressed (and mocked) the controversy so that the celebrities could applaud the idea of a more diverse, progressive industry, then move on to the task at hand (trophies).
But Carmichael was not simply disposing of unpleasant business; rather, he was completely upending the expectation of what an awards show host normally does. Carmichael’s energy was more reminiscent of a kindergarten teacher than an emcee. He began by shushing the room, tamping the Globes’ notoriously raucous atmosphere by encouraging everyone to “settle” and “be a little quiet here.” At one point in his monologue, he sat down on the edge of the stage. His voice was hushed as he wove his pointed jokes into an extended narrative critique that likely made the HFPA profoundly and deliberately uncomfortable. Carmichael frankly explained, “This show, the Golden Globe Awards, did not air last year because the Hollywood Foreign Press Association — which I won’t say were a racist organization, but they didn’t have a single Black member until George Floyd died,” Carmichael observed. “So, do with that information what you will.”[9] Carmichael further admitted that the HFPA’s paycheck — which he explicitly stated was $500,000 — was too good to turn down, noting that “one minute you’re making tea, and the next you’re the Black face of an entitled White organization.” Carmichael’s monologue was unsurprising to those familiar with his narrative style of stand-up (and make no mistake, it was undeniably funny), but it was likely bizarre to viewers used to a sprightly Billy Crystal entertaining Oscar viewers with parodic medleys. My mom might have understandably been underwhelmed, but I couldn’t help but be amazed. Carmichael’s performance was audacious — and, most importantly, it wasn’t really for us, the viewers at home.
Broadly speaking, an awards show host is the conduit between the home audience and the celebrities, bridging the gap with humor and, ideally, keeping both constituencies somewhat entertained during the death march of speeches and montages. The humor also helps to tame the glamor and excess of these spectacles by injecting some strategically-placed humility, forcing celebrities to laugh at themselves. Even then, awards ceremonies are incredibly excessive, and the Globes have always been a strange example — drunker, louder, and just plain weirder than most, particularly the more-staid Oscars (recent events notwithstanding). The Globes’ auditorium constantly buzzes with conversation, even during the show itself; each time the show came back from commercial, Carmichael had to yell at the crowd to quiet down, quipping at one point that he didn’t realize how much of his job would be telling everyone to “shut the f*** up.” The categories for both film and television are presented with no clear organizing structure, as if picked at random. The show has always needed some sort of cohesive figure but the Globes only started using hosts regularly in 2010. To show that they had a healthy sense of humor about themselves, the HFPA enlisted comedians with an edge, bringing in Ricky Gervais for five hosting stints, and Tina Fey and Amy Poehler for four.[10] Gervais particularly seemed to revel in pointing out the ridiculousness of Hollywood awards shows and tip from good-natured ribbing into outright mockery, sipping beer onstage and waving “I don’t care” after leveling the audience with jokes that drew groans and pained laughs. Gervais even referred to the Golden Globe trophy as “a bit of metal that some nice old confused journalists wanted to give you in person so they could meet you and have a selfie with you.”[11]
Yet if Gervais was acerbic, Carmichael was genuinely anarchic. Gervais’s rebellion was for our benefit; he was one of us, poking at the absurdity of awards themselves and throwing tomatoes from the good seats. His jokes were a little sharper than hosts usually get, but they were still surface cuts focused on celebrity culture and self-promotion. By contrast, Carmichael’s monologue may have helped to explain the HFPA controversy to those unaware of it, but it was meant most palpably for those who were engulfed by the scandal. Carmichael didn’t just address but unpack it, particularly emphasizing the hypocrisy of the HFPA, an organization that was still racially segregated in the year 2020, putting him in the uncomfortable position of endorsing their efforts by his very presence. By bluntly asserting that he had taken the job “assuming that they [the HFPA] hadn’t changed at all,” Carmichael refused to absolve anyone who had shown up, including himself; rather, he implicated attendees for moving on and used his monologue to demand some introspection.
Carmichael’s target was not simply the HFPA, but Hollywood’s tendency to emphasize cosmetic rather than systemic change. In one of his most stunning jokes, Carmichael came onto the stage with what he claimed were Tom Cruise’s three returned Golden Globes and suggested that they be exchanged for the safe return of Shelly Miscavige, the long-missing wife of the leader of Scientology — the controversial church of which Cruise is the most prominent member.[12] Both Cruise and Scientology wield enormous power in Hollywood, and the comment was so genuinely shocking that the most audible sound on the telecast was gasps. The remark was even gutsier because it preceded a presentation of Top Gun: Maverick by Cruise’s co-stars, who smiled nervously then plowed ahead with their scripted banter.
But for those who don’t pay much attention to Hollywood’s power dynamics, Scientology chatter, or awards rituals — an understandably large group of people — Carmichael’s comments were less “gasp, he went there” and more “what the hell is he talking about?” It is perhaps unsurprising that Carmichael garnered far better reviews from industry trade critics than, say, my mother (who is a pretty faithful awards-show viewer, for what it’s worth). IndieWire critic Ben Travers claimed that, “dealt an impossible hand, Jerrod Carmichael did just about everything right,” representing the many in and outside of Hollywood — pundits, critics, and fans alike — who delighted in the skewering of the Globes and Hollywood hypocrisy, more broadly.[13] The HFPA’s President, Helen Hoehne, who appeared on the show to promise that the HFPA had made concrete strides, was reportedly “shocked and upset” by Carmichael’s monologue, a response that even the caustic Gervais had never really provoked..[14] The HFPA could accept being teased for its members wanting access to celebrities (oh, that pesky corruption), but pointing out its history of racist gatekeeping was too deep a cut.
Hoehne’s alleged reaction suggests that the HFPA continues to struggle with a chronic lack of self-awareness, though she is right to be worried: Hollywood’s awards shows are increasingly imperiled and fighting for their lives as both broadcast events and cultural touchstones. The critics who reveled in Carmichael’s takedown seemed to forget that those who pay attention to awards shows are rapidly dwindling in number; certainly, Carmichael had to address the HFPA’s scandals, but few outside of the industry were terribly invested in them. For many, awards shows are a fun diversion, an opportunity to see amazing fashion, favorite celebrities, and (hopefully) some interesting acceptance speeches — all elements that can be consumed through social media in bite-sized moments rather than a nearly-four hour marathon. As fewer people watch linear television and/or the nominated films and shows, the TV ratings are plummeting, putting the broadcast deals that serve as the financial lifeblood for organizations like the HFPA at risk. The 2023 Golden Globe Awards were the lowest-rated ever for broadcaster NBC, who have yet to announce if they will revive their long-term broadcast deal, a move that seems unlikely.[15] Streaming platforms have been floated as a potential savior for the Golden Globes following an announcement that the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards will shift from cable to Netflix in 2024 (with a stopgap presentation in 2023 on Netflix’s YouTube channel).[16] Even the industry’s stalwarts, the Emmys and the Oscars, are grappling with chronically-low ratings and scrambling to attract more viewers.
If fewer people are watching, it begs the question: who are Hollywood awards shows for anymore, anyway? If the sacred Hollywood ritual of award-giving no longer entertains most of us in real time, what purpose does it serve? The 80th Golden Globes provided a fascinating distillation of where awards shows may be heading: hosts speaking almost exclusively to industry insiders and to the small, loyal cadre of pundits and fans who appreciate their insular references; problematic organizations promising to do the necessary “work” to stay in the good graces of the industry and present their trophies; and artists and executives showing up to accept them, despite reservations, because they are career- and brand-making forms of recognition. In short, awards ceremonies could become even more of an echo chamber than they were previously, which would be welcome news to the contingent that annually begs the Oscars to cut loose casual viewers and cater the show more exclusively to diehard fans of cinema (a demographic that, it must be said, seems unsustainable — certainly for broadcasters, and likely also for streaming platforms). Perhaps that is why Carmichael chose to turn the spotlight inward, and to literally yell at the gathered attendees to “shut up and listen.” If the audience at home can’t be expected to care, then Carmichael could at least say something important to those gathered. He could force them to face uncomfortable truths about Hollywood and the hypocrisy of those who perform outrage when it’s good PR to do so, but still show up to collect their prizes.
This is not to overstate Carmichael’s performance or to suggest that he was purely antagonistic. Carmichael ended his monologue by saying, “I’m here, truly, because I look out into this room and I see a lot of talented people. People that I admire. 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 hope you have some fun tonight.” Notably, though, this remark was, like the others, squarely aimed at those in attendance — not for us, the home viewers. His main concession to home viewers seemed to be his array of fantastic wardrobe changes, which were certainly one of the evening’s highlights.[17] Much of the show did proceed as usual. There were emotional speeches, boring speeches, and funny speeches. There were clearly-deserving winners, and those who were thrilled for them (most notably Jamie Lee Curtis celebrating the win of her Everything Everywhere All At Once co-star Michelle Yeoh in what instantly became a viral meme, which Curtis then turned into a t-shirt).[18] The Golden Globes were back, sort of, but they — like most Hollywood awards shows — will need to genuinely evolve to have any hope of survival. For one strange evening, it was the show’s very own host who refused to let them forget it.
End Notes
[1] 51st Academy Awards, produced by Jack Haley, Jr., directed by Marty Pasetta, aired April 9, 1979, on ABC, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwLr8_mh9IU.
[2] Stacy Perman and Josh Rottenberg, “Golden Globes voters in tumult: Members accuse Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. of self-dealing, ethical lapses,” Los Angeles Times, February 21, 2021, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2021-02-21/hfpa-golden-globes-2021.
[3] Clayton Davis, “Golden Globes Former President Admits the HFPA Hasn’t Had Any Black Members in Two Decades,” Variety, February 26, 2021, https://variety.com/2021/awards/awards/golden-globes-no-black-members-hfpa-1234916590/.
[4] “Golden Globes crisis: Tom Cruise returns awards and NBC drops ceremony,” BBC News, May 11, 2021, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-57065562.
[5] 80th Golden Globe Awards, produced by Dick Clark Productions, aired on January 10, 2023, on NBC and Peacock, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okd7GQ2Zm7I.
[6] One notable exception was actor Brendan Fraser, an awards season darling for his performance in The Whale. In 2018, Fraser accused Philip Berk, the former head of the HFPA, of groping him at the ceremony in 2003 and claimed he would no longer attend the Golden Globes: “Brendan Fraser: Actor won’t attend Golden Globes,” BBC News, November 17, 2022, https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-63660028.
[7] 80th Golden Globe Awards, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9OwwVAaWFU.
[8] Though Rock structured his monologue about White liberalism in Hollywood, he was justifiably criticized for an insensitive sketch on the show in which Asian-American children played the Oscar accountants: Reggie Ugwu, “The Hashtag that Changed the Oscars,” The New York Times, February 6, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/06/movies/oscarssowhite-history.html.
[9] 80th Golden Globe Awards, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9OwwVAaWFU.
[10] Gervais hosted in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2016, and 2020. Fey and Poehler hosted in 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2021.
[11] Perman and Rottenberg, “Golden Globes voters in tumult: Members accuse Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. of self-dealing, ethical lapses.”
[12] Prominent critics of Scientology tweeted their gratitude to Carmichael for raising the issue so publicly, including actress Leah Remini and blogger Mike Rinder, both former Scientologists who have detailed the church’s abuses, most prominently through the docuseries Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath (A&E, 2016-2019).
[13] Ben Travers, “2023 Golden Globes Review: Jerrod Carmichael Soars, but This Ship Is Still Sinking,” IndieWire, January 11, 2023, https://www.indiewire.com/2023/01/golden-globes-review-2023-jerrod-carmichael-1234798357/.
[14] In fairness, some dispute that Hoehne had this reaction and other HFPA members refused to critique Carmichael’s hosting performance. So, to quote Carmichael’s opening monologue, “do with that what you will”: Chris Gardner, “Sources: HFPA President Left “Shocked and Upset” Over Jerrod Carmichael’s Monologue,” The Hollywood Reporter, January 18, 2023, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/jerrod-carmichael-golden-globes-host-monologue-hfpa-president-1235302225/.
[15] The 2023 telecast drew just 6.3 million live broadcast viewers, “barely a third of the size of 2020’s 18.3M”: Katie Campione, “2023 Golden Globes Ceremony Sinks To Lowest Ratings Ever On NBC,” Deadline, January 11, 2023, https://deadline.com/2023/01/2023-golden-globes-ratings-lowest-ever-nbc-1235217640/.
[16] Tony Maglio and Brian Welk, “Netflix Got the SAG Awards. What’s the Next Awards Show to Be Saved by Streaming?” IndieWire, January 12, 2023, https://www.indiewire.com/2023/01/netflix-sag-awards-golden-globes-oscars-1234798591/.
[17] For more on this, see: Christian Allaire, “Host Jerrod Carmichael Brought His Fashion A-Game to the Golden Globes,” Vogue, January 10, 2023, https://www.vogue.com/slideshow/jerrod-carmichael-golden-globes-host-fashion-style.
[18] Jamie Lee Curtis (@jamieleecurtis), “I’m still stunned that a moment of natural exuberance and joy, became some sort of a symbol for women supporting other women. @erin.gallag.her highlighted it with her gorgeous post and word anthem of support and somehow from Tuesday night to Friday night it became a T-shirt that was left outside my home with a dozen everything bagels from my @everythingeverywheremovie family. I was COVID sleeping and today after my shower I proudly wear it. #FRIENDSSUPPORTINGFRIENDS is a perfect squad goal for 2033 Thank you Erin and all who are expanding it and amplifying the message and CONGRATULATIONS @michelleyeoh_official YOU ARE EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE!” Instagram, January 14, 2023, https://www.instagram.com/p/CnZo1kYrPhn.