Daniel Kaluuya was rewarded for his excellence while the Golden Globes revealed that even celebrities suffer pandemic-related technical difficulties. Kaluuya was given the first award of the mostly remote night, winning Best Supporting Actor for playing Black Panther Fred Hampton in the film Judas & The Black Messiah. As the one up first, Kaluuya had to work out the kinks himself, and he started his speech while still on mute. The Globes nearly cut away from him entirely before finally resolving the issue.
“You did me dirty!” he joked once the audio was worked out.
Kaluuya didn’t let the snag keep him from sharing exactly what he wanted to say. The actor quoted late rapper Nipsey Hussle once his speech got rolling, pulling the spirit of the ever-grinding, and entrepreneurial L.A. star.
“We’re here to give til we’re empty,” Kaluuya said.
That all-in attitude extended to Kaluuya’s Judas co-stars. LaKeith Stanfield recently shared that playing an FBI informant took a toll on his mental health, especially playing against Kaluuya’s convincing Hampton.
“Sometimes your body thinks that’s real, everything you’re putting it through. It’s no wonder I’ve been feeling so stressed out and having panic attacks. I realized going forward before I step into something like that again, maybe have a therapist,” he said.
Both the glitch and Kaluuya’s unexpected shout-out to Hussle, who was gunned down in his neighborhood nearly two years ago, caused a stir on Twitter.
Daniel Kaluuya winning Best Supporting Actor for playing Fred Hampton and having his speech muted at a Golden Globes where the opening act literally had to include a bunch of jokes about the HFPA's lack of diversity and interested in Black stories is hilariously on the nose.
— Alyssa Rosenberg (@AlyssaRosenberg) March 1, 2021
