The Golden Globes officially kicked off this year’s award season, and boy did it go off with a bang. As the first major ceremony since Hollywood was hit with sexual harassment scandals, the show became a fertile ground for protest against a long history of misconduct within the industry. From Natalie Portman‘s Best Director digs to Oprah’s groundbreaking speech (we’ve still got goosebumps), it was a night of solidarity and kickass acceptance speeches. Here are the highlights…
Oprah’s unforgettable speech
Oprah not only made history by becoming the first black woman to receive the Cecil B. DeMille award, but gave a killer speech while accepting it. In the most perfect use of words EVER, Oprah sent an important message to young girls around the world and reinforced the #TimesUp initiative. “I want tonight to express gratitude to all the women who have endured years of abuse and assault because they, like my mother, had children to feed and bills to pay and dreams to pursue,” she said. “They’re the women whose names we’ll never know.”
“I want all of the girls watching here now to know, that a new day is on the horizon.” @Oprah accepts the 2018 Cecil B. de Mille award. #GoldenGlobes pic.twitter.com/hbquC1GBjm
— Golden Globe Awards (@goldenglobes) January 8, 2018
She added: “I want all the girls watching here now to know that a new day is on the horizon. And when that new day finally dawns, it will be because of a lot of magnificent women, many of whom are right here in this room tonight – and some pretty phenomenal men – fighting hard to make sure that they become the leaders who take us to the time when nobody ever has to say #MeToo again.”
Elizabeth Moss rewriting Margaret Attwood’s character name
After winning the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a TV Drama for her role in The Handmaid’s Tale, Elizabeth Moss continued the night’s feminist theme in her acceptance speech by referring to her character by her given name, June Osborne, rather than the patriarchal title ‘Offred’. Paying homage to the show’s author, she then quoted Margaret Attwood, saying: “We were the people who were not in the papers. We lived in the blank white spaces at the edges of print. It gave us more freedom. We lived in the gaps between the stories.”
The red carpet conversations were switched up
Instead of asking the usual “who are you wearing?”, E!‘s Giuliana Rancic kept the focus of the red carpet interviews on the #TimesUp movement by replacing the question with “why are you wearing black?”. She too, wore a sparkly black gown to show her support for the anti-sexual harassment initiative.
Natalie Portman’s brilliant dig at the all-male Best director nominees
Natalie Portman threw the perfect amount of shade at the all-male line-up in the Best Director category as she took to the stage to present the award alongside director Ron Howard. Before announcing the winner she highlighted the lack of female nominees after Lady Bird director Greta Gerwig was snubbed, by simply saying: “Here are all the male nominees.”
Natalie Portman ENDED all men. pic.twitter.com/0B0cFu0fGo
— ً (@ButeraDemetria) January 8, 2018
Christopher Nolan ( Dunkirk), Martin McDonagh ( Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), Steven Spielberg ( The Post) and Ridley Scott ( All the Money in the World) were all nominated, with The Shape of Water filmmaker Guillermo del Toro taking the win.
Debra Messing addressing the Catt Sadler’s equal pay situation.. while on
Will & Grace star Debra Messing proved that she isn’t one to ignore the elephant in the room as she brought up the fact that former E! presenter Cat Sadler left the publication after claiming she was being paid less than her male colleague. “I was so shocked to hear that E! doesn’t believe in paying their female co-hosts the same as their male co-hosts. I miss Cat Sadler, and so we stand with her,” she said while being interviewed by Giuliana Rancic.
DEBRA MESSING BRING THE MESS!!!! CALLING OUT A NETWORK ON THE VERY NETWORK ITSELF pic.twitter.com/7pePJMaOXj
— Ziwe (@ziwe) January 7, 2018
Laura Dern highlighting the importance of speaking out
Laura Dern, who won a Golden Globe for ‘Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a TV Series or TV Movie’ for her role in Big Little Lies, used her acceptance speech to talk about the power of speaking out. “Many of us were taught not to tattle, it was a culture of silencing and that was normalised,” she said. “I urge all of us to not only support survivors and bystanders who are brave enough to tell their truth, but to promote restorative.”
A huge congratulations to @LauraDern! She is awarded with the #GoldenGlobes Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a TV Series or TV Movie award. pic.twitter.com/CTV8mmgIyl
— Golden Globe Awards (@goldenglobes) January 8, 2018
