The 80th Golden Globe Awards graced our screens last night, celebrating excellence in film and television from 2022, and it has already been subject to controversy…
Both the audience and viewers were left shocked by this year’s Host, Jerrod Carmichael when he made an unexpected joke about Tom Cruise.
The event took place at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, and it was a night to remember. An esteemed panel of professionals from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association selected the most deserving winners.
It was a prestigious occasion, filled with stars from all corners of the entertainment industry that were excited to be honored for their hard work and dedication.
There were some clear stars of the show when it came to accepting awards. Unsurprisingly, The Banshees of Inisherin won best picture, for a musical or comedy, and received a whopping eight nominations throughout the night.
Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical film The Fabelmans won the final award of the night for the best motion picture drama.
When it came to the TV category, HBO’s House of the Dragon won best drama television series, while Abbott Elementary won best television series, musical or comedy. The White Lotus was also very successful, winning best limited series, anthology, or TV movie.
However, before the awards got underway, there were a few things that needed to be mentioned…
Obviously, the Hollywood Foreign Press has not been without controversy over the last few years, and that is something that many people wanted them to address.
During the show, President Helen Hoehne mentioned the changes made to the organisation in order to ensure that its members had a more diverse representation. “We commit to continue strengthening our partnership with Hollywood and with the worldwide fans who celebrate the best on film and television,” she said. “We will continue to support groups that amplify a variety of voices and continue to add representation to our organisation from around the world as we did this past year.”
The HFP’s lack of diversity was also addressed by Host Jerrod Carmichael: “I’m here because I’m Black,” he said in his opening monologue, adding that the association “did not have a single Black member until George Floyd died.” His comments seemed to spark a positive response from Twitter users, and his name quickly began trending on the site.
But that wasn’t the only comment made by Carmichael that got everyone animated.
Later on, in the show, the host made the audience audibly gasp with an unexpected Scientology joke about Tom Cruise.
The comedian brought up how Cruise returned his Golden Globe trophies last year after a bid to boycott the Hollywood Foreign Press Association over the lack of diversity controversy.
Carmichael left the stage briefly before returning with 3 awards, after which he said: “Backstage, I found these three Golden Globe awards that Tom Cruise returned. I think maybe we take these three things and exchange them for the safe return of Shelly Miscavige.”
As you may already know, Cruise is a member of the Church of Scientology, which is led by David Miscavige. His wife, Shelly’s whereabouts have been unknown since 2007.
The host’s comments caused Twitter to blow up, with viewers taking to the platform to share their thoughts…
One wrote: “Jerrod making a Shelly Miscavige joke before introducing cast members from Top Gun…we love to see it.”
while another added: “Lol Jerrod making a Shelly Miscavige joke to utter silence before introducing two actors from TOP GUN MAVERICK.”
“OK Jerrod Carmichael gets kudos from me for mentioning Shelly Miscavige right before introducing two of the Top Gun guys,” a third commented.
