With a red carpet dyed black by actresses outfitted in a colour-coordinated statement against sexual harassment and gender inequality, the Golden Globes confronted the post-Harvey Weinstein era with a ceremony that veered between atonement and celebration.
“Good evening ladies and remaining gentlemen,” opened host Seth Meyers at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.
Meyers, in his first time hosting the Globes, dove straight into material about the sex scandals that have roiled the industry, and the “elephant” in the room, Harvey Weinstein.
“For the male nominees in the room tonight, this is the first time in three months it won’t be terrifying to hear your name read out loud,” said Meyers.
Seth Meyers is hosting the Globes for the first time. (Jordan Strauss/Invision/Associated Press)
The first award of the night, perhaps fittingly, went to one of Hollywood’s most powerful women: Nicole Kidman, for her performance in HBO’s The Big Little Lies, directed by Canadian Jean-Marc Vallée and a series she and Reese Witherspoon produced. She chalked the win up to “the power of women.”
“Let’s keep the conversation alive,” she said.
Hollywood’s awards season is seen as wide open, but the early returns Sunday were good for one of the leading nominees: the revenge black comedy Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Sam Rockwell won for best supporting actor.
Others winners included Elisabeth Moss (best TV drama actress) in The Handmaid’s Tale, based on Margaret Atwood’s classic novel, Rachel Brosnahan (best TV comedy or musical actress) for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Sterling K. Brown (best TV drama actor) for This is Us.
Tarana Burke, left, and Michelle Williams arrive at the 75th annual Golden Globe Awards. Burke is a civil rights activist who started the #MeToo movement. (Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
Many female stars arrived with activist guests — Michelle Williams with #MeToo founder Tarana Burke, Meryl Streep with domestic workers advocate Ai-jen Poo, Laura Dern with farm workers advocate Monica Ramirez — as part of the larger effort to keep the Globes spotlight trained on the sexual harassment and assault scandals that have roiled Hollywood and other industries.
“We feel sort of emboldened in this particular moment to stand together in a thick black line,” Streep said.
Amy Poehler, left, and Saru Jayaraman arrive at the Globes. (Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
Williams, nominated for her role in Ridley Scott’s All the Money in the World, said she just wants to listen to her guest.
“I’m so much more interested in what you have to say than what I have to say,” Williams told Burke.
‘It’s a solidarity statement’
The Globes had long been the stomping grounds of disgraced mogul Harvey Weinstein, whose downfall precipitated allegations against James Toback, Kevin Spacey and many others. Weinstein presided over two decades of Globes winners and was well-known for his manipulation of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the 89-member group that puts on the Globes.
Ashley Judd, the first big name to go on record with her Weinstein experience, and Salma Hayek, who last month penned an op-ed about her nightmare with Weinstein, attended together.
Salma Hayek, left, and Ashley Judd are among those who came forward with allegations against Harvey Weinstein. (Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
Sunday night’s black-clad protest was promoted by the recently formed Time’s Up: an initiative of hundreds of women in the entertainment industry — including Streep, Williams, Dern and the night’s Cecil B. DeMille honouree, Oprah Winfrey — who have banded together to advocate for gender parity in executive ranks and legal defence aid for sexual harassment victims.
“It’s not a fashion statement. It’s a solidarity statement,” said The Crown actress Claire Foy.
Just about everyone, woman and man, celebrity and red-carpet reporters, was dressed in black Sunday, many of them wearing a Time’s Up pin. This Is Us star Chris Sullivan even sported black fingernails.
“I can tell you it’s a very small gesture. Me wearing black isn’t going to change anything, but from small gestures come big ones,” said Alfred Molina.
But the unified statement has more dramatic effects on the normal choreography of the usually superficial red carpet. While being interviewed live on E!, Debra Messing called out the network for allegedly not paying its female hosts the same as its male hosts.
During a red-carpet interview, Debra Messing called out E! Network about pay inequality. (Valerie Macon/AFP/Getty Images)
The exchange was just another illustration of how the #MeToo reckoning that has plowed through Hollywood has upended awards season. Sunday’s Globes are considered wide open, with contenders including Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water, Steven Spielberg’s The Post and Martin McDonagh’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.
The ongoing scandals have derailed Oscar campaigns and prompted new ones. Among the nominees Sunday is Christopher Plummer, who was brought in at the last minute to erase Spacey from All the Money in the World.
Dakota Johnson, left, and Alison Brie greet each other as they arrive at the Globes. (Jordan Strauss/Invision/Associated Press)
Last year’s broadcast also roped in one notable viewer: then U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. He was critical of Streep after the actress’s forceful political acceptance speech for the Cecil B. DeMille lifetime achievement award, which this year goes to Winfrey.