Politics At The Golden Globes: In Chaos Of The Trump Era, Presenters & Winners Speak In General Terms About Need To Do “The Right Thing”

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The chaos of the second Donald Trump administration was playing out again just as the Golden Globe ceremony was starting on Sunday, but on the telecast itself, most presenters and winners spoke in generalities when it came to anything political, as fraught as the times are.

“There’s just a lot that could be said tonight,” Jean Smart, winner for HBO Max’s Hacks, said from the stage. “I said my rant on the red carpet, so I won’t do it here, but thank you. Let’s all do the right thing. I think everybody in their hearts knows what the right thing is to do, so let’s do the right thing.”

Smart was among the celebrities who wore “Be Good” pins, a protest of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement after an agent killed a 37-year-old woman, Renee Good, in Minneapolis last week. On the red carpet, Smart told Entertainment Tonight‘s Kevin Frazier: “Everything is a bit overshadowed with what is going on in our country. I feel like we are kind of at a turning point in this country, and I hope people can keep their heads. Because that actually is going to be the hardest thing is to keep our heads, because that is going to take a lot of courage and a lot of restraint.”

She added: “I know there are people who find it annoying when actors take opportunities like this to talk about social and political things, but I am not here right now speaking as an actress. I am just speaking as a citizen and a mom, and I hope people understand that.”

Trump has railed in the past when award show figures have criticized him, and he boasted that his recent hosting gig of the Kennedy Center Honors would drive up ratings. But it instead drew a historically low Nielsen audience.

Trump’s name was rarely mentioned on Sunday’s telecast, but it didn’t have to be. Presenter Judd Apatow told the audience, “I believe we are in a dictatorship now.”

Host Nikki Glaser opened the show by saying, “The Golden Globes: The most important thing happening in the world right now.”

Her sarcasm wasn’t wrong. Much of the political press on Sunday evening was focused on an extraordinary video statement from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, announcing that he is the target of a criminal investigation that he said is a pretext for refusing Donald Trump’s demands to lower interest rates.

“This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions — or whether instead monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation,” Powell said.

That breaking news did not get mentioned on the show, but it might move markets on Monday.

Glaser did go to other Trump chaos, including the Epstein files, when she quipped, “And the Golden Globe for best editing goes to, the Justice Department.”

Then she went after the network broadcasting the ceremony, and parent Paramount’s efforts to woo Trump and stay in his good graces. “And the award for most editing goes to … CBS News. Yes. CBS News. America’s newest place to See B.S. News.” That was a reference to changes at the news division, which have drawn suspicion and scrutiny given the moves by CEO David Ellison.

Others onstage spoke broadly of challenging times.

Kleber Mendonça Filho, winner of Best Non-English Language Feature for political thriller The Secret Agent, has talked about his native Brazil recent backslide, and return, to democracy. That has invited comparisons to what is happening now in the United States under Trump. Onstage at the Globes, Mendonça simply said: “This is a very important moment in time, in history, to be making films. Here in the U.S., in Brazil, American young filmmakers make films.”

Said Jack Thorne, accepting the Best Limited Series award for the project he co-created, Adolescence: “Removing hate is our generation’s responsibility. It requires thought from the top down. The possibility seems remote right now, but hope is a beautiful thing.”