Opening the Golden Globes, host Ricky Gervais, on 5 January began his comedic monologue by promising that this would be his last time hosting the show and that he didn't care who he offended. "So I don't care anymore. I'm joking, I never did. I mean, Kevin Hart was fired from the Oscars for some offensive tweets - hello?"
True to his reputation, Gervais opened the show with the witty monologue (that had an unpleasant ending) and held nothing back, leaving the artistes uncomfortable at the awards night. Gervais said that while most celebrities took a Limo (sic) to the event, he took a regular car with a license plate "made by Felicity Huffman" — a jab at Huffman's recent prison stint for her involvement in the college admissions scandal.
Criticizing the trend of sequels and remakes, Gervais said the lack of original content in cinema has led to all the best actors joining Netflix and HBO. "And the actors who just do Hollywood movies now do fantasy-adventure nonsense. They wear masks and capes and really tight costumes. Their job isn't acting anymore. It's going to the gym twice a day and taking steroids, really. Have we got an award for most ripped junky? No point, we'd know who'd win that," he said adding that he agrees with Scorsese's "theme park" remark on Marvel movies.
Nonetheless, he didn't let the moment slip and joked about Martin Scorsese's "tiny" height and his "long" film "The Irishman". Another joke pertained to "Leonardo DiCaprio, Gervais said those who attended the premiere of the movie "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood", by the end his date was too old for him." Even Prince Andrew was like 'come on man, you're nearly 50,'" the host joked, drawing big laughs from the audience -- DiCaprio included playing a great sport.
Gervais ended his monologue by asking the stars at the ceremony to not use the platform to make a political speech. "If you do win an award tonight, don't use it as a political platform to make a political speech. You're in no position to lecture the public about anything, you know nothing about the real world. Most of you spent less time in school than Greta Thunberg. So, if you win, come up, accept your little award, thank your agent and your God and f*** off. OK?"
During the telecast at the NBC, Gervais' swear words and his use of profanity in two separate jokes were beeped out. Gervais has earned a reputation for his harsh humor at the helm of the Globes. He first hosted in 2010 and went on to helm the gig in 2011, 2012 and 2014.
