Hollywood’s biggest stars kicked off awards season at the 81st annual Golden Globe Awards on Sunday night, and while the revived show didn’t quite meet some critics’ expectations, it delivered some surprises.
It was a night of highs and lows, with breathtaking fashion moments, cringey jokes and notable wins. Overall, the spirit of support reigned supreme from stars like Emma Stone, Bella Ramsey, Selena Gomez and Taylor Swift, who cheered on their friends and colleagues as they walked onstage to collect their respective trophies.
Here are some of the notable moments from the ceremony.
Jo Koy’s jokes fall flat
The stand-up comic and actor had just two weeks to prepare for hosting duties after Chris Rock, Ali Wong and several others reportedly declined the gig.
While Koy’s opening monologue began on a moderate tone, audiences both in-person and at home didn’t laugh out loud at jokes about Barbie’s “boobies,” references to Saltburn star Barry Keoghan’s penis and Oprah Winfrey’s use of the weight-loss drug Ozempic, among others.
“The key moment in Barbie is when she goes from perfect beauty to bad breath, cellulite and flat feet — or what casting directors call character acting,” Koy said of the Greta Gerwig-directed film, which stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling.
When the joke was greeted with grunts from the audience, Koy was quick to respond.
“Some I wrote, some other people wrote,” the comedian said. “Yes, I got the gig 10 days ago! You want a perfect monologue? Yo, shut up. You’re kidding me, right? Slow down, I wrote some of these and they are the ones you are laughing at.”
Taylor Swift was a cameraman’s dream
Say what you want about Swift, but the “Cruel Summer” singer reminded everyone why she’s the perfect guest at any awards show, delivering several meme-able moments as the night progressed.
One such moment was when the Golden Globe nominee sipped her drink after Koy made a joke referencing her relationship with NFL star Travis Kelce. Swift later gave Barbie a standing ovation when the film won the show’s first-ever Cinematic and Box Office Achievement award, for which she was also nominated.
Another fun moment came when Swift, her friend Keleigh Sperry and fellow nominee Selena Gomez were caught whispering to each other during a commercial break. Will we ever know what they were talking about? Lip readers are already guessing.
Stars in attendance didn’t keep their Swiftie status a secret either, including Bill Hader. The Barry star was seen taking a selfie with the singer during a commercial break.
Stars supporting stars
It certainly wasn’t a night of sore losers. Several nominees were delighted for the winners of their respective categories — including Jennifer Lawrence, who playfully mouthed to the camera that she was leaving if she didn’t win.
When Emma Stone won Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy for her role in Poor Things, Lawrence was among her biggest supporters.
Bella Ramsey was seen cheering on her The Last of Us co-star Pedro Pascal when he was announced as a nominee in the Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Series, Drama category.
Gomez was ecstatic for fellow nominee Ayo Edebiri, who won Best Actress in a TV Series, Musical or Comedy for her role as Sydney Adamu in The Bear.
Succession, which ended its six-season run last year, saw wins in the acting category for first-time winners Matthew Macfadyen, Kieran Culkin and Sarah Snook. The show also took home the award for Best TV Series, Drama.
The Bear notched two awards for its stars Jeremy Allen White and Edebiri, as well as the trophy for Best TV Series, Musical or Comedy.
On the film front, Oppenheimer raked in four awards — including for director Christopher Nolan and actors Robert Downey Jr. and Cillian Murphy, as well as Best Original Score for Ludwig Göransson.
Historic firsts
Several achievements set a precedent for Asian and Indigenous representation in Hollywood.
Ali Wong became the first Asian actress to win a Golden Globe for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Limited Series, Anthology Series or Motion Picture Made for TV for her role in Beef.
Beef was also the first show starring and created by Asian Americans to take home the award for Best Television Limited Series, Anthology Series or Motion Picture Made for TV.
Lily Gladstone made history, too, becoming the first Indigenous person to win a Golden Globe for Best Actress for her role in Killers of the Flower Moon.
“This is a historic win. It doesn’t belong to just me. I’m holding it right now. I’m holding it with all my beautiful sisters in the film,” she said before dedicating it to “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 — by ourselves, in our own words — told with tremendous allies and tremendous trust with and from each other.”
Barbie gets her due
During the acceptance speech for Cinematic and Box Office Achievement, Barbie producer and star Margot Robbie and the film’s director, Greta Gerwig, expressed their heartfelt appreciation for the success of Barbie and how it resonated with audiences.
“This is a movie about Barbie, but it’s also a movie about humans,” Robbie said. “It’s about you. We made it for you and we made it with love, and thank you for loving it back.”
