The 2023 Golden Globes: Highlights from the scandalized awards' comeback show
CBC
The 80th annual Golden Globes returned to the air on Tuesday evening, marking a comeback for the once disgraced awards show after last year's telecast was cancelled by NBC.
The event's voting body, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, was accused of racism and bribery in a series of reports published by the Los Angeles Times in 2021. The organization vowed to clean up its act and diversify its voting membership in light of the allegations, appeasing NBC, which televised the 2023 ceremony.
This year's Globes were hosted by comedian Jerrod Carmichael, who addressed the scandal in an off-kilter opening monologue, jokingly referring to himself as "the Black face of an embattled white organization."
The Banshees of Inisherin, Everything Everywhere All At Once and Abbott Elementary were among the evening's biggest winners.
Otherwise, it was a fairly unremarkable show, save for a few standout moments, jokes and surprises.
One of the night's greatest moments came early: Ke Huy Quan's best supporting actor win for the wildly successful Everything Everywhere All At Once.
Quan, who worked as a child actor in the '80s and gave a shoutout to his Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom director Steven Spielberg, recalled the self-doubt he felt when the roles began to dry up.
After retreating during the '90s and 2000s to work as an assistant director and stunt coordinator, he landed a golden opportunity to star in what became one of 2022's breakout hits — and he has been a reliably enthusiastic presence on the festival circuit this year.
"Thankfully more than 30 years later, two guys thought of me," Quan said of the project's co-directors, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert. "They remembered that kid. And they gave me an opportunity to try again."
Later in the evening, Ryan Murphy — one of the most prolific television producers working in Hollywood — received the Carol Burnett Life Achievement Award and used his speech to highlight the work of five LGBTQ performers he's collaborated with.
MJ Rodriguez won last year's Golden Globe for Best Actress in a TV drama, the first trans woman to win the award; but without a telecast, she couldn't make a speech. He invited her to stand for an ovation from the crowd.
Murphy then spoke about Jeremy Pope, Niecy Nash, Billy Porter and Matt Bomer, addressing his comments to LGBTQ youth who aspire to work in the arts. "I offer [them] as examples of possibility," he said. "There is a way forward; use them as your north stars."
Throughout the ceremony, veteran actresses including Jennifer Coolidge (The White Lotus), Angela Bassett (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever) and Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All At Once) received accolades for major milestone projects.
Yeoh highlighted the adversity she once faced as a young Malaysian actress who, upon her arrival in Hollywood, fielded questions about her English, and then later wondered as an aging, female performer if her career was over.