Golden Globes Host Jerrod Carmichael Doesn’t Hold Back in Blistering Opening

After a tumultuous hiatus, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association hoped to restart Hollywood’s biggest party with the 80th Golden Globes. But the show’s host, Jerrod Carmichael, had some honest words to share before the festivities started. Rather than talk around the reasons for the ceremony’s absence from the airwaves, the comedian got to the point right away. “I’m here because I’m Black,” he told the audience with direct honesty.

Carmichael then recapped the story for viewers who had come in late, referring to the bombshell reports originating in the Los Angeles Times in 2021 that the notoriously insular HFPA didn’t have a single Black journalist among its membership. “The Golden Globes did not air last year because the Hollywood Foreign Press… I won’t say they are a racist organization, but they didn’t have a single Black member until George Floyd died,” Carmichael said, taking a seat at the foot of the stage. “Do with that information what you will.”

Referencing George Floyd — whose death in Minneapolis police custody in 2020 set off a wave of #BlackLivesMatter protests — made the audience of A-listers visibly uncomfortable. Some audience members were even squirmed in their seats and much of their initial laughter quieted. But Carmichael pressed on. “Why am I onstage with you guys tonight,” he said, explaining his long and winding road to hosting the Globes’ return, a journey that started with a phone call from the show’s Black producer, Stephen Hill.

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