Golden Globes 2021: Sacha Baron Cohen Calls out ‘All White’ Hollywood Foreign Press

Sacha Baron Cohen didn’t hold back while accepting the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy on behalf of Borat Subsequent Moviefilm during Sunday’s ceremony. The actor first thanked the “all-white” Hollywood Foreign Press Association for voting to present his film with the award before taking aim at Rudy Giuliani, who was featured in a scandalous scene that made headlines last year.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has come under scrutiny as of late after an investigation by the Los Angeles Times into the organization’s lack of Black members. Ahead of the Golden Globes Sunday, the HFPA released a statement vowing to rectify its diversity issues. “We are fully committed to ensuring our membership is reflective of the communities around the world who love film, TV and the artists inspiring and educating them,” the statement read. “We understand that we need to bring in Black members, as well as members from other underrepresented backgrounds, and we will immediately work to implement an action plan to achieve these goals as soon as possible.”

Cohen also joked during his acceptance speech about his “co-star” in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, Giuliani, whom he called a “fresh new talent who came from nowhere and turned out to be a comedy genius.” He continued, “Who can get more laughs out of one unzipping? Incredible!” before joking that the former Donald Trump attorney “went on to star in a string of comedy films — hits like Four Seasons Landscaping, Hair Dye of the Day and the courtroom drama, The Very Public Fart.” Cohen also cracked a joke at Trump’s expense while accepting the award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, saying, “Hold on, Donald Trump is contesting the result. He claimed a lot of dead people voted, which is a very rude thing to say about the HFPA.”

The political satirist did have a number of sincere thanks to give during his speeches as well, thanking the field team that “literally risked their lives” while filming Borat, the “incredible” breakout star of the film Maria Bakalova and his wife, actress Isla Fisher. “I want to thank my crew, who were amazingly brave, who had the risk of getting arrested the risk of getting COVID and they did it because we all believed so deeply in releasing this movie before the election to show the danger of lies, hate and conspiracies and the power of truth, empathy and democracy,” he said. “Most of all, thank you to my incredibly patient wife, Isla, who has put up with all my madness.”