Taking the stage as Golden Globes host for the fifth time on Sunday night, Ricky Gervais seized the moment to address a few global headlines in the past year, make fun of recent films — such as Cats — and urge winners to not make political speeches.
“You’ll be pleased to know this is the last time I’m hosting,” began the comedian in his monologue, adding afterward that he was joking. He mentioned that Kevin Hart was fired [from hosting the Oscars] because of offensive tweets, saying, “I’m lucky the Hollywood Foreign Press [Association] have no idea what Twitter is.” He went on to say, “Let’s go off with a bang. We’re all going to die soon, and there’s no sequel!”
Looking out at the crowd, Gervais said, “You all look lovely,” and mentioned that everyone probably came in limos. “I came here in a limo, and the license plate was made by Felicity Huffman,” he said in a jab at the actress who served a prison sentence for her role in the college admissions scandal last year.
Gervais went on to note that “a lot of pedophile movies” were made in 2019, such as “Surviving R. Kelly, Leaving Neverland, The Two Popes.“ He went on to say, “Many talented people of color were snubbed … there’s nothing we can do about that. The Hollywood Foreign Press are very racist.”
The comedian later said, “No one cares about movies anymore, everyone’s watching Netflix,” while adding, “Most films are awful, lazy, remakes, sequels … all the best actors have jumped to Netflix and HBO.” He then asked, “Have we got an award for most ripped junkie?”
What followed was a joke about filmmaker Martin Scorsese, who made the news late last year for his negative comments about the Marvel franchise. “I don’t know what he’s doing hanging around theme parks,” said Gervais. “He’s not big enough to go on the rides.”
Among his other jabs, the host highlighted Judi Dench in Tom Hooper’s Cats, joking that she was born to play a cat because she loves “plunking herself down on the carpet, lifting her leg and licking [herself].” Gervais also called out James Corden in the film, joking that he is a “fat pussy.”
Related Stories
Closing his monologue, the comedian urged the winners to not make political speeches, as they’re not in a position to lecture people about what’s really going on in the world.
Later in the show, Gervais tossed out another joke at Cats while introducing presenters in a film category. “Knives Out has three nominations tonight,” he said. “See what happens if you don’t dress people up as cats?”
Toward the end, Gervais made a jab at a controversial Hollywood media mogul when he said, “Our next presenter is in Bird Box [Sandra Bullock], a movie about people who act like they can’t see a thing. Sort of like working for Harvey Weinstein.”
“Have a great time, donate to Australia, get drunk, take your drugs,” said the comedian as the program ended.
Earlier on the red carpet, Gervais joked to Ryan Seacrest, “I cannot wait for this to be over — like the audience.”
In late December, soon after J.K. Rowling was criticized for supporting author and cisgender woman Maya Forstater’s views on the negative impact of gender identity rights, Gervais came under fire for penning a series of seemingly transphobic tweets in response to a parody persona account that joked about being transgender. While in conversation with Twitter users who asked if he was joking in his tweets, Gervais claimed he was “playing along with a spoof account.”
The 77th annual Golden Globes aired live from the Beverly Hilton Hotel on NBC. Tune in after the telecast for The Hollywood Reporter and Twitter’s official live aftershow.
Dick Clark Productions, which produces the Golden Globes, shares a parent company with The Hollywood Reporter.
