Nikki Glaser returned as host and topped her stellar performance from the previous year, while an overwhelmed Teyana Taylor of “One Battle After Another” made her mark with a memorable speech. Then there were the production choices that ranged from goofy (like the pop songs that accompanied winners) to crass (betting odds for some categories).
Here are the Golden Globes highs and lows as we saw them.
Best Host: Nikki Glaser (Again)
It was clear that Nikki Glaser had been here before. For her second consecutive year as Golden Globes host, she delivered a killer set of rapid-fire, very short jokes. A few were slashing (one about stars in the Jeffrey Epstein files), some were soft and silly (one about The Rock punning on the game rock, paper, scissors), but all were completely assured as she put on a clinic in how to win over a room without pandering to it.
It takes a certain confidence to go after the network that hired you right off the bat, skewering the news division led by Bari Weiss in the meatiest joke of the night: “And the award for most editing goes to … CBS News,” she said, referring to how “60 Minutes” pulled a segment about an El Salvador prison. “CBS News,” she announced in the style of a stentorian advertisement. “America’s newest place to see B.S. news.”
Mostly what came through is that experience helped. She was smart to reboot a crowd-pleaser that she used last year, an impression of Adam Sandler saying Timothée Chalamet’s name. And she also used jokes that she had planned for the monologue last year but were left on the cutting-room floor, including her closing shot at Steve Martin and Martin Short. She looked at them and said, “Keep proving to us that in this industry you are never, ever too old to still need money.”
— Jason Zinoman
Read more on Nikki Glaser’s performance.
Least Surprising Victory: ‘One Battle After Another’
“One Battle After Another,” Paul Thomas Anderson’s American epic, had been expected to triumph, and indeed it had a banner evening, winning four top honors: best motion picture, musical or comedy; best director; best screenplay; and an acting prize for Teyana Taylor.
This recognition helps shore up the film’s position as a favorite at the Academy Awards, but at the same time there are signs that it might not be quite as easy a sweep as previously thought — Chloé Zhao’s “Hamnet,” Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” and Josh Safdie’s “Marty Supreme” all scored big awards on Sunday, making the Oscars race that much spicier.
— Maya Salam
Best Stress-Inducing Performance (Tie): Rose Byrne and Timothée Chalamet
Whether Timothée Chalamet can score an Oscar at the tender age of 30, which is young for best actor winners, is one of the major questions of awards season. Perhaps his high-profile victory at the Globes will help.
Chalamet won best actor in a comedy for his role as a hustling table-tennis player in “Marty Supreme.” His acceptance speech was succinct and humble, referring to the “greats” in his category, thanking his co-stars, including Kevin O’Leary of “Shark Tank”; calling out his partner, Kylie Jenner; and remembering how his dad instilled gratitude in him, useful for the times he had lost at the Globes.
Chalamet wasn’t the only performer in a stressful movie released by A24 to get a high-profile Globes win. Rose Byrne seemed to almost tremble as she accepted her trophy for actress in a comedy for “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,” though she noted that her partner, Bobby Cannavale, couldn’t be there because he was at a reptile expo getting a bearded dragon for the family. If nothing else, the status of the Byrne-Cannavale bearded dragon will be an interesting story line to follow.
— Esther Zuckerman
Safest Fashion Trend: the Return of Elegance
Sequined, strapless, lace, beaded — there hadn’t been this much black on a Golden Globes red carpet since 2018, when attendees used their clothes to show solidarity with victims of sexual misconduct in the wake of #MeToo revelations.
Eight years later, the choices may have less to do with making a political statement (politics seems out of favor on the red carpet these days, judging by the lackluster adoption of anti-ICE pins) than with a retreat to the safety of elegance at the start of what will be a long red-carpet season (the Oscars are March 15), and in the face of uncertain times.
Whatever the reason, the old Hollywood hairdos, plush velvet dinner jackets, corsets and multiple strapless princess dresses were all of a piece, making Wunmi Mosaku’s unapologetic bright yellow gown (and her pregnancy reveal) look like the sun breaking through the clouds.
— Vanessa Friedman
Read more on the red carpet looks.
Most Memorable Speech: Teyana Taylor
With Oscar voting starting Monday, a memorable speech at the Globes can make a world of difference for contenders. Accepting her win for best supporting actress for her turn in “One Battle After Another,” Teyana Taylor immediately grabbed the spotlight with a compelling and emotional speech.
“To my brown sisters and little brown girls watching tonight, our softness is not a liability,” Taylor said, adding, “Our voices matter, and our dreams deserve space.”
The way she went from overcome to utterly locked in is its own advertisement for her talent.
— Kyle Buchanan
Newest Face: Wagner Moura
In Brazil, Wagner Moura is a household name, a star of soaps and a crime drama, “Elite Squad,” as well as an outspoken critic of former President Jair Bolsonaro. American viewers might remember that he played the drug kingpin Pablo Escobar in “Narcos” 10 years ago, but they probably didn’t know his name.
That changed on Sunday night when Moura was named best actor in a drama, the first Brazilian to take that prize. Whether he goes on to the Oscars is an open question, but his home country was celebrating already. Even the current president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, posted his congratulations on X.
— Stephanie Goodman
Funniest Substitute: Wanda Sykes
While reading out the nominees for best standup comedy, the comedian Wanda Sykes had a special message for Ricky Gervais: “I love you for not being here.” As the crowd erupted in laughter, she continued with the real punchline: “Because if you win, I get to accept the award on your behalf, and you’re going to thank God and the trans community.”
Gervais, a vocal atheist who came under fire for jokes about trans people in his 2022 comedy special “SuperNature,” was not there to protest. When he did win, for the special “Mortality,” Sykes seemed overjoyed to follow through on her promise, upstaging the winner with a heavy dose of charm and humor.
— Kellina Moore
Most Political Statement: Anti-ICE Pins
It’s a marker of how apolitical the Globes were that the most direct commentary onstage came from a presenter, Judd Apatow, surveying the changes of the last decade: “I believe we’re a dictatorship now,” he said. (The audience laughed — in discomfort? Recognition?) The host Nikki Glaser also got in a few digs in her opening monologue. “The Golden Globe for best editing goes to the Justice Department,” she said, in a reference to the heavily redacted Epstein files.
But the clearest statements came from those, like Mark Ruffalo, Wanda Sykes, Natasha Lyonne and Jean Smart, a best actress winner for the comedy “Hacks,” who wore small black-and-white pins reading “ICE OUT” or “BE GOOD.” The pins were part of an A.C.L.U.-backed campaign in tribute to Renee Good, the Minneapolis woman who was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent on Wednesday and to Keith Porter Jr., a Los Angeles man killed by an off-duty ICE officer on New Year’s Eve.
Glaser slyly summed up the head-snapping juxtaposition of an awards ceremony at a moment like this in her very first remark: “The Golden Globes! Without a doubt, the most important thing that’s happening in the world right now.”
— Melena Ryzik
Worst Production Choices, Part 1
If you were driving between the tables of Hollywood stars to look for a particular nominee, then maybe you found the Google Maps-like “dropped pin” icons helpful during the broadcast. For home viewers, the upside-down teardrops that occasionally pointed out where nominees were seated were not only unnecessary, but also confusing. What exactly was to be gleaned from the fact that Jean Smart wasn’t close enough to the stage? I, for one, was lost.
Then there were those disembodied voices chatting throughout the show. They were, in fact, announcers — Marc Malkin, a culture editor at Variety, and Kevin Frazier, a co-host of “Entertainment Tonight” — installed to offer commentary in the vein of a sporting event. Unfortunately, their purpose was never made clear, and their banter and contributions were often out of sync with the rest of the event.
— Maya Salam
Worst Production Choices, Part 2
Did they just use a producer’s “Good Vibez” Spotify playlist for the night’s musical accompaniment? That’s the only way to explain why Usher’s “Yeah!” played as Stellan Skarsgard accepted his Golden Globe for supporting actor in the drama “Sentimental Value.”
There was neither rhyme nor reason to much of the songs used throughout the night. Benson Boone while Noah Wyle won for “The Pitt”? Please, no. Though the supporting actress winner Teyana Taylor doing a little dance to “My Boo” as she left the stage was kind of fun. But mostly, no.
— Mekado Murphy
Best Breathless Banter: The ‘Heated Rivalry’ Stars
When Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams, the stars of “Heated Rivalry,” walked onstage to Chappell Roan’s L.G.B.T.Q. anthem “Pink Pony Club” to present best TV supporting actress, it was the culmination of an incredible rise from unknowns a month ago to some of the hottest names in TV thanks to their steamy HBO series about a pair of closeted gay hockey players.
It wasn’t clear how many stars in the room had watched their show, but the pair clearly knew their target audience. “Hi, moms,” Williams said. “Hi, daughters,” Storrie said (dropping the Russian accent of his character). The bit, with the duo breathlessly clutching at and reassuring one another, worked if you’d seen “Heated Rivalry.” If not, it was a bit, well, cringe.
— Sarah Bahr
Worst Sponsor Gimmick: Polymarket
Were the Golden Globes encouraging the audience to bet on the show? That’s what it seemed like.
Just before some commercial breaks, the telecast displayed percentages for the favorites in forthcoming categories like best podcast and cinematic and box office achievement. The information came from Polymarket, a betting website that uses crypto currency, and the awkwardness was enhanced by the announcers trying to call the races as if they were sporting events.
While predicting who will win at awards shows is part of the pleasure of watching, this sponsored content felt particularly crass.
— Esther Zuckerman
Best Unofficial Ambassador: Julia Roberts
In some ways, the night affirmed a new class of stars, like the heartthrobs of “Heated Rivalry” and Timothée Chalamet with his win. But Hollywood royalty remains Hollywood royalty — even when they lose.
Though Julia Roberts didn’t win best actress in a drama for “After the Hunt,” she still felt like a winner based on her sheer charm. Roberts held Jessie Buckley (“Hamnet”), who beat her, in a long embrace before the winner walked to the stage. Roberts received a standing ovation when she went to announce the best motion picture comedy winner. And though she basked in the applause, she turned the attention to fellow nominee Eva Victor and urged the audience to watch Victor’s directorial debut, “Sorry, Baby.”
Roberts was not the only veteran who seemed to take the title of gracious loser to new heights. Adam Sandler could be seen helping various winners make their way through the crowd, while his “Jay Kelly” co-star, George Clooney, escorted Jean Smart to pick up her trophy. Collectively, they were the night’s unofficial ambassadors.
— Esther Zuckerman
The post Best and Worst Moments From the 2026 Golden Globes appeared first on New York Times.
