Meryl Streep, Jimmy Fallon and more use Golden Globes stage to slam Trump
Ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, some liberal stars were determined to use the 74th annual Golden Globes to have the last word 12 days before Trump is sworn into office.
During a night that saw “Moonlight,” “La La Land,” “The Crown” and “Atlanta” win big it was the next president of the United States that got the most attention.
Just minutes into the show, host Jimmy Fallon used his time on stage to take digs at Trump after he was forced to improvise for the first few minutes of the show due to a broken teleprompter.
Once his script was up and running, Fallon called the Golden Globes “one of the few places left where America still honors the popular vote.” That, though, isn’t quite true. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, a collection of 85 members, has its own methods of selecting winners.
Fallon often used the President-elect as a punchline, even comparing him to belligerent and cruel “Games of Thrones” King Joffrey, but Meryl Streep changed the tone of the evening when she launched into a somber speech about Trump.
Streep said Trump’s behavior “sank its hooks in my heart” and she slammed what she called Trump’s “instinct to humiliate.” She asked for a “principled press to hold Trump [accountable]” and to call him out “for every outrage.” Her comments were met with applause, tears and support by her fellow actors in the audience. Actor Chris Pine called her speech the “best message of tonight.”
Hugh Laurie, accepting his award for best supporting actor in a limited series or TV film for “The Night Manager,” speculated that this would perhaps be the last Golden Globes ceremony.
“I don’t mean to be gloomy, but it has the words ‘Hollywood,’ ‘foreign’ and ‘press’ in the title,” Laurie said, explaining his pessimism about the awards surviving the Trump era. He added that some Republicans don’t even like the word “association.”
He accepted his award “on behalf of psychopathic billionaires everywhere.”
The night’s top winner was Damien Chazelle’s lauded Los Angeles musical “La La Land,” which took home seven awards. Ryan Gosling won for best actor in a musical or comedy, and “La La Land” composer Justin Hurwitz won best score and its lyricists, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, won for best original song, “City of Stars.”
Meanwhile, “Moonlight” won the award for the best motion picture drama.
Casey Anthony won best actor in a motion picture drama for “Manchester by the Sea,” and Isabelle Huppert won best actress in a motion picture drama for “Elle.”
Viola Davis won best supporting actress for “Fences,” and British actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson took best supporting actor for his performance in Tom Ford’s “Nocturnal Animals.”
On the TV side, “The People v. O.J. Simpson” took home the best miniseries award, as well as an award for Sarah Paulson.
Donald Glover looked visibly surprised when his FX series “Atlanta” won best comedy series over heavyweights like “Veep” and “Transparent.”
Other winners were Tracee Ellis Ross (“Black-ish”) and Billy Bob Thornton (“Goliath”).
