Bill Maher looks stone-faced as Wanda Sykes mockingly begs him to 'do less' at 2026 Golden Globes

Bill Maher is usually the one delivering the jokes on his HBO talk show Real Time, but the tables were turned on Sunday night at the 83rd Golden Globe Awards.

The 69-year-old comedian was in the audience this time as Wanda Sykes, 61, mocked him while presenting the award for Best Performance in Stand-Up Comedy on TV.

While Sykes reserved biting jokes for all of the nominees — including Brett Goldstein, Kevin Hart, Kumail Nanjiani, Ricky Gervais and Sarah Silverman — Maher looked notably less enthused about her jabs than the other nominees.

After Sykes said she wanted to give the nominees 'some love,' she turned to Maher to start her parade of insults. 

'Bill Maher, you give us so much,' Sykes said. 'But I would love a little less.'

As laughter erupted from the audience, she continued, 'Just... try less.'

Maher didn't join in the laughter, and he at first displayed a puzzled expression before he adopted a stony visage.

The Daily Mail has reached out to Maher's representatives for comment.

Next up to be roasted was Ted Lasso star Brett Goldstein.

'Brett Goldstein, you are handsome, you've got that great super villain voice, and you are charming,' Sykes said. 'You would've made a great Menendez brother.'

Goldstein grinned ear to ear after being compared to the infamous murderers as Sykes moved on to Kevin Hart.

She joked that he was 'the richest guy in this category,' adding, 'And yet, I know he wants it the most.' 

'You are a true American, Kevin,' Sykes said as Hart also burst out laughing with the audience.

Sykes referenced Kumail Nanjiani's stunning physical transformation as he adopted a muscular physique while preparing to star in Marvel's misbegotten superhero film The Eternals.

'I love that you prove that male comedians can be funny without being chubby,' Sykes said, which seemed to tickle both Nanjiani and his wife and regular collaborator, Emily V. Gordon.

'He's jacked!' Sykes added emphatically.

The comedienne also poked fun at how her friendship with Sarah Silverman had grown fallow.

'Sarah, I love that we are such close friends. You know, we haven't talked in five years, but we are so close!' she said. 'You know what I'm saying? Good luck, girl. I love you.'

After bashing Maher, Sykes seemed to save her other critical jokes for Ricky Gervais, who wasn't at the ceremony.

'Ricky Gervais, I love you for not being here. I love you, Ricky, but if you win, I get to accept the award on your behalf, and you are going to thank God,' she joked about the notoriously public atheist.

'And the trans community!' she added, referencing claims that some of Gervais' material has been anti-trans, though he denied that his jokes are meant to attack transgender people in a 2020 interview with the Daily Beast.

'Most offense comes from people who mistake the subject of a joke with the actual target. And they’re not necessarily the same,' Gervais said at the time. 

'I’ve had it throughout my career. So there, you know, "He’s making fun of a trans person, therefore he’s transphobic," which is very odd,' Gervais continued. 'That would suggest that you can never make fun of a trans person for any reason. Even if it had nothing to do with their trans-ness.'

When Sykes announced that Gervais was the winner, she did exactly what she promised and thanked God and the trans community on his behalf.

The Daily Mail has reached out to Gervais reps for comment.  

Sunday's show saw Timothée Chalamet soar over Leonardo DiCaprio — who stars in One Battle After Another — as the betting favorite to win the coveted Best Actor Oscar as he earned the top honor at the Golden Globes for Marty Supreme (directed by Josh Safdie).

Before awards season, it was 51-year-old DiCaprio who was the odds favorite to take home the coveted gong, but now Chalamet is a massive favorite to win the top acting prize at March's Academy Awards, according to regulated exchange and prediction market Kalshi.

However, DiCaprio's flick One Battle After Another (directed by Paul Thomas Anderson) did earn the last laugh at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Californiaon Sunday night as the film not only triumphed over Chalamet's project but also beat out Blue Moon, Bugonia, No Other Choice, and Nouvelle Vague for Best Picture - Comedy Or Musical. 

One Battle After Another was the most awarded film of the night with four but will no doubt face stiff competition in the Oscars race from Hanmet (directed by Chloe Zhao) as it earned the last award of the night in the Best Picture - Drama category over Frankenstein, It Was Just An Accident, The Secret Agent, Sentimental Value, and Sinners.

On the television side, it was The Pitt (created by R. Scott Gemmill), The Studio (created by Evan Goldberg, Alex Gregory, and Peter Huyck), and Adolescence (created by Stephen Graham and Jack Thorne) which earned wins in the drama, comedy or musical, and limited series categories, respectively. 

Meanwhile, 30-year-old Chalamet surely had tongues wagging as he barely acknowledged girlfriend Kylie Jenner during his acceptance speech for Marty Supreme. 

The French-speaking actor had another major awards show moment as he earned Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy and abruptly ended his speech by saying: 'To my parents and partner, I love you. Thank you so much.' 

It was noticeably a much more muted acknowledgement for Jenner, 28, as he boldly declared her love for her at last week's Critics Choice Awards 2026. 

Chalamet beat out an impressive field led by Leonardo DiCaprio for One Battle After Another as the field also featured: George Clooney - Jay Kelly, Ethan Hawke - Blue Moon, Lee Byung-Hun - No Other Choice, Jesse Plemons - Bugonia. 

 One Battle After Another led all winners with four including the aforementioned Best Picture - Comedy Or Musical gong along with Best Director and Screenplay for Paul Thomas Anderson and a surprise Best Supporting Actress win for Teyana Taylor.

One Battle After Another has already had a very successful Awards Season 2026 run but will face a formidable opponent in Hamnet - starring Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal - which earned the top prize Best Picture - Drama. 

Buckley earned one of the top acting gongs of the night as she earned Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture — Drama.

The 36-year-old Irish actress triumphed over an A-list field including: Jennifer Lawrence - Die, My Love, Renate Reinsve - Sentimental Value, Julia Roberts - After the Hunt, Tessa Thompson - Hedda, and Eva Victor - Sorry, Baby.

On the television side, it was Netflix's Adolescence that had the biggest night as it swept their categories including 16-year-old star Owen Cooper becoming one of the youngest Golden Globe Awards winners of all-time.

The teenage actor was recognized in the Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role — TV Series, Limited series or TV Movie category.

His Adolescence co-star Stephen Graham later earned Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series, Anthology Series or Motion Picture Made for TV. 

It was a massive night for the Netflix series as Erin Doherty also earned Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role — TV Series, Limited series or TV Movie. 

Adolescence swept their categories as it finished the night winning Best Limited TV Series, Anthology Series or Motion Picture Made for TV over: All Her Fault, The Beast in Me. Black Mirror, Dying for Sex, and The Girlfriend. 

Noah Wyle kept up his winning ways after winning at last week's Critics Choice Awards 2026 as he was earned Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Series – Drama for The Pitt (created by R. Scott Gemmill). 

Wyle also led the beloved HBO show to the top television honor as The Pitt was honored with Best TV Series - Drama. 

Another big winner was The Studio as it earned Best TV Series – Musical or Comedy in addition to a Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Series win for Seth Rogen.