The 81st Golden Globes kicked off this year’s Awards SZN, and based on the reactions from last night, we’re not off to a good start.
Host Jo Koy was under extreme pressure to be the one to usher in this year's awards season after a year of Hollywood strikes and following the Globes' last few years of controversy—and he crumbled. This was the first ceremony since the Hollywood Foreign Press was dismantled, so this was an opportunity to show progress and change. While the Globes never truly take themselves too seriously, this one felt a bit jumbled and unfunny. The presenters also weren’t as captivating as they have been in previous years so the show ended up feeling incomplete, awkward, rushed, and poorly executed at times.
Each category was also stacked after a year of tremendous success in TV and movies. There was no clear winner in any of the nominations, and even the most popular and beloved films and shows faced stiff competition. Fan favorites like Oppenheimer, Succession, and The Bear still came out on top. And while 2023 was the year of Barbie and the Greta Gerwig film was in the lead with nine nominations, the film came up short in the end, losing in every major category.
Martin Scorcese’s Killers of the Flower Moon was also largely snubbed, losing every nomination except in one acting category for Lily Gladstone. Netflix’s Beef also took home three well-deserved trophies home, including two acting wins for Ali Wong and Steven Yeun.
Awards shows can’t please everyone, and last night’s show surely didn’t. Here are some of the best and worst moments of the 2023 Golden Globes, and what we here at Complex think the show got wrong or right.
Jo Koy debuts as Golden Globes host
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Hit or miss? Huge miss.
To be a successful awards show host, you need to either have fans in the room or fans at home—Jo Koy had neither. Past hosts poked fun at the guests in attendance so viewers could laugh at their expense, but this time, neither the A-Listers sitting in front of Koy nor the TV audience were laughing. More than once throughout the night, even the winners said how intimidating the audience was, so it’s not solely on Koy. He was reportedly given the role of host just two weeks before the ceremony, and while he got the job done, that's perhaps not enough time to fully prepare.
His monologue bombed, and when the audience didn’t react to some of the jokes well, he blamed the writers. He made an off-color joke about Barbie being a movie about “a plastic doll with big boobs” and a Taylor Swift/NFL joke that the singer did not find amusing.
Historically, award show hosts have had experience hosting some form of a TV show or a stacked TV and film résumé before landing a gig as big as this one. Jimmy Kimmel at the Oscars is an example of someone who can poke fun at his fellow celebrities without making jokes that leave a bad taste in the attendees' or the viewers’ mouths. Standup comedy is a completely different beast than awards shows, and it was clear that what works during a Netflix special won’t always work in front of A-listers at the Globes. We hope he gets another opportunity down the line to redeem himself.
The morning after the show, Koy responded to people's criticism and the negative reviews he has received. “I had fun. You know, it was a moment that I’ll always remember,” Koy said, according to Variety. “It’s a tough room. It was a hard job, I’m not going to lie…I’d be lying if [I said] it doesn’t hurt. I hit a moment there where I was like, ‘Ah.’ Hosting is just a tough gig. Yes, I’m a stand-up comic but that hosting position it’s a different style. I kind of went in and did the writer’s thing. We had 10 days to write this monologue. It was a crash course. I feel bad, but I got to still say I loved what I did.”
Succession stays on top
Hit or miss? A huge hit.
Amidst the horde of TV shows nominated for Golden Globes this year, Succession came out on top as the most awarded series of the night (which we were more than happy to welcome with open arms) thanks to its absolutely stunning final season. While no one was surprised, it was incredibly rewarding to see Kieran Culkin and Matthew Macfadyen (who play Roman and Tom respectively) finally get their flowers. Culkin took home the Globe for Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Series (Drama) and Macfadyen the award for Best Supporting Role. It was their first Golden Globe win for their work on Succession, which is wild to think about in hindsight.
Joining their ranks was Sarah Snook who took home her second Golden Globe for her portrayal of Shiv Roy, winning the Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Series (Drama). And just when you thought the wins would end there, Succession also nabbed the Globe for Best Television Series (Drama)—was it even a competition to begin with?—signing off as the most awarded show of the night and bidding a gold-dusted farewell to the Roys. To make things even more hilariously meta, Brian Cox and Jeremy Strong were both not in attendance last night, ending Succession’s run on a true testament to its finale—the eldest boy nowhere to be found.
Jeremy Allen White takes home another Golden Globe
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Hit or Miss? Hit.
We’re only two seasons into The Bear and the show and its cast has been continuously sweeping during award season. The show’s lead Jeremy Allen White won his second Golden Globe for Best Television Male Actor Musical/Comedy Series, and he looks more like a natural every time he gets on the stage to accept an award. And we’re certain this won’t be his last.
The second season of the hit FX series was remarkable and a bit of a departure from the first, but in the best way. White’s performance as Carmen "Carmy" Berzatto has skyrocketed him to being one of the most sought-after actors in Hollywood, and it’s completely deserving. This is just the launching point of the heights he’s set to reach with both The Bear and beyond.
Barbie losing Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy) to Poor Things
Hit or miss? Miss.
While it made sense for Barbie to lose in major acting awards in the face of this year’s competition, it was a major snub for the film to lose in the Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy) category. Before even getting into why Barbie deserved the win, the nominees for this award were weirdly cherry picked. May December, a film about predatory abuse, was nominated as a comedy instead of a drama which easily beckons us to ask if we all watched the same movie. Air, a biographical sports drama about the origins of Air Jordans, was also nominated. And The Holdovers and American Fiction, which admittedly are both dark comedies, deserved ample award nods but were still strangely placed in this category. It felt like the Globes recognized that these were all objectively great films, but that they had no other home in its category roster so they just dumped ‘em all into this one.
Herein lies Poor Things, one of the standouts of this year, excellent enough to be nominated for best motion picture but not “dramatic” enough to be considered a drama apparently. Anyone familiar with Yorgos Lanthimos’ work would know that the king might be campy, but he’s rarely considered comedy, and amidst all the nominees Barbie remains the only film that fits this category to the tee. It was actually a musical, lest we all forget the Kens’ banger of a brawl, and it was actually a comedy. So while Poor Things was an excellent watch on all ends, Greta Gerwig’s junior effort still deserved this category through and through—when will we ever get “I’m Just Ken” in a film again?
The presenters’ bits before the awards
Hit or Miss? Miss.
For some reason, the presenters fell incredibly flat this year. It wasn’t a lack of talent or big names, it was the writing. Kevin Costner sounded disinterested, and two of the funniest people in Hollywood, Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig did a bizarre bit that was beneath the level of comedy we are used to from them. But there were a few bright spots throughout the show. Daniel Kaluuya, Hailee Steinfeld and Shameik Moore honored the importance of writers after last year’s strike and presented the award as if a studio exec wrote their lines. It was humorous, they were charming and made people laugh. Andra Day and Jon Batiste also had chemistry as they presented the award for Best Original Song, and their charisma and humor felt like a breath of fresh air amid a group of bits that simply did not work.
Ayo Edebri wins her first Golden Globe
Hit or miss? HIT!
Ayo Edebri is without a doubt the people’s princess and at long last she’s finally getting her flowers for her phenomenal work in The Bear. As Sydney, Ayo has shocked, evoked, and demanded awe, tears, and laughs from us all seamlessly mining a character that’s become the heart and soul of the show.
Her win comes as no surprise to anyone who’s been paying attention to her career, and while accepting her award for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Series (Musical or Comedy), Ayo was visibly shaken and had a stunning shoutout to give to the unsung heroes of her success—her assistants. “There’s so many people who I probably forgot to thank…Oh my god! All of my agents and managers—assistants. To the people who answer my emails, y’all are real ones,” Ayo hilariously concluded at the end of her speech. It’s impossible to not fall in love with her.
Cillian Murphy finally getting the win he deserves
Hit or miss? Hit, hit, hit!
Anyone who watched Oppenheimer would know that Cillian Murphy’s win for Best Performance by a Male Actor (Drama) was a no brainer. The gold was honestly years in the making, with Murphy consistently delivering A-grade performances across all his work whether in Peaky Blinders or Batman Begins. His win for Oppenheimer came as no surprise, but was made sweeter with his speech that recognized his 20-year long partnership with Christopher Nolan and the slew of Irish actors standing alongside him as nominees. Both 2022 and 2023 were arguably the year of the Irish, with Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Paul Mescal, Andrew Scott, and most recently, Barry Keoghan, absolutely bodying past and present award seasons—and as Cillian succinctly put it last night—“To all my fellow nominees, if you’re Irish or not, you’re all legends!”
Robert Downey Jr. Wins Best Supporting Actor
Hit or Miss? Miss.
Angela Bassett made a couple of people’s hearts stop at the Golden Globes last night. The Black Panther star was announcing the winner for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture and paused a beat too long after saying “Robert” leaving Robert De Niro on pins and needles. She then called Robert Downey Jr.’s name instead for his role in Oppenheimer, and the Killers of the Flower Moon actor paused and a look of disappointment quickly flashed through his face before he began clapping for his opponent. Two nominees rarely share a name in the same category, especially when one of them is the winner. In this case, both De Niro and the actual winner were deserved their nominations—but De Niro should have been the Robert who took home the trophy last night.
Lily Gladstone’s Award SZN Takeover Begins
Hit or miss? The first hit of hopefully many.
Lily Gladstone is the Golden Globes’ first Indigenous actor to ever win the Best Actress award for a Motion Picture (Drama). As Molly in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, Gladstone not only gave one of the most emotionally affective performances of the year, but she also made history at both the award circuit and onscreen. “In this business Native actors used to speak their lines in English and the sound mixers would run them backwards to accomplish Native languages on camera,” Gladstone said after starting her speech in Blackfeet language, an Algonquian language spoken by the Niitsitapi or Blackfoot people.
“This is a historic win, it doesn’t belong to just me,” Gladstone continued. “This is for every little rez kid, every little urban kid, every little Native kid out there who has a dream, who is seeing themselves represented and our stories told by ourselves in our own words, with tremendous allies and tremendous trust.” A historic win on all fronts, Gladstone’s only going onwards and upwards from here.
