You didn’t miss last night’s Golden Globes — it wasn’t on. But you may have seen the tweets. NBC announced in May 2021 it wouldn’t broadcast the awards show this year after an investigation by The L.A. Times revealed the lack of diversity within the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), the organization that hosts the annual event, as well as evidence of some members receiving gifts that amounted to bribes. As the HFPA undergoes reforms, it hosted last night’s pared-down event privately — it was not aired on television, nor even livestreamed.
Instead, the event’s winners were live-tweeted in an often bizarre fashion.
It seems the HFPA could have benefitted from Twitter’s paid subscription offering, which lets you undo tweets with mistakes. Last night, the HFPA’s Golden Globes Twitter account regularly forgot to note which TV or movie projects Globe recipients were winning for — like how Andrew Garfield’s win was for “tick, tick…BOOM!”, for example — when it was announcing the night’s winners on social media. The organization also oddly referred to “West Side Story’s” laughter (?) as being “the best medicine,” in a tweet it later deleted, only to be posted again to say that music was the best medicine — which is not how that saying goes.
Nowhere in these deeply chaotic Golden Globe tweets do they even mention the projects people are winning for pic.twitter.com/4Tt5CHaojE
— Kyle Buchanan (@kylebuchanan) January 10, 2022
Nevertheless, the event went on.
In addition to being an overall quieter year as the HFPA tries to reform its organization following the controversies, the winning networks also aren’t touting their victories as they would normally, despite some seeing some notable firsts and upsets.
In prior years, HBO would be happily promoting its sweep over rivals. The network led the night with six wins, including four for HBO and two for HBO Max. Several of these were for its TV series “Succession,” which won for best TV drama, TV drama actor (Jeremy Strong) and supporting actress (Sarah Snook.) HBO Max’s comedy “Hacks” also notably beat out Emmy winner “Ted Lasso” (Apple TV+) as best comedy, and saw its lead, Jean Smart, win for best actress in a comedy. And Kate Winslet won best TV actress in a limited series for HBO’s “Mare of Easttown”.
Meanwhile, though Netflix led the year by nominations — including for best dramatic film “The Power of the Dog” and drama series “Squid Game” — it had said it wouldn’t participate in the event until the HFPA institutes changes. That decision means it’s also now not bragging about a couple of notable firsts that resulted from last night’s awards.
Netflix’s big win of the night was for its original film, “The Power of the Dog,” which became the streamer’s first-ever movie to take home a Golden Globe for best motion picture (drama). The movie also won for best director (Jane Campion) and best supporting actor (Kodi Smit-McPhee).
In addition, Netflix’s runaway hit TV series “Squid Game” received three nominations this year, leading to the first-ever win for South Korea, as South Korean actor O Yeong-su won for his role in the series, beating out “Succession’s” Kieran Culkin (HBO) and “The Morning Show’s” Billy Crudup (Apple TV+).
Netflix also won for “tick, tick…BOOM!” when Andrew Garfield took the trophy for best actor in a motion picture (musical or comedy), though the tweet had forgotten to credit the project by name.
Apple TV+ took home one win last night, as “Ted Lasso’s” Jason Sudeikis won best actor in a TV series (comedy). Hulu also got one Globe, as “Dopesick’s” Michael Keaton won best actor in a TV limited series or motion picture made for television, while Amazon Prime Video’s “The Underground Railroad” won the category. Amazon Prime Video’s “Being the Ricardos” was highlighted with Nicole Kidman’s win as best actress in a motion picture.
In another milestone, the first trans actress to win a Golden Globe, FX’s “Pose” star Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, took home the trophy for best actress in a drama.
20th Century Studio/Disney’s “West Side Story” won best picture (musical or comedy) and its stars, Rachel Zegler and Ariana DeBose, won best actress and supporting actress, respectively. Disney’s “Encanto,” which streamed on Disney+ just a month after hitting theaters, won best animated picture.
Warner Bros.’ “Dune” got the trophy for best score (Hans Zimmer), and Will Smith was named best actor in a motion picture (drama) for “King Richard.” The best non-English language picture award went to the Japanese film “Drive My Car.”
The full list of winners is here.
Comment