Golden Globes Cuts Category From Broadcast, Sparking Backlash

The 2026 Golden Globe Awards cut a major category from its Sunday night broadcast, sparking major backlash from one of its nominees.

CBS confirmed Friday that the presentation of the Golden Globe for Best Original Score would not be seen by telecast viewers, and that while it would be presented live with the rest of the awards at the Beverly Hilton, the presentation would occur during a commercial break.

At the time, a Golden Globes spokesperson told Deadline that the Best Original Score category was still a “cornerstone” of the awards and remained a “craft that it deeply values.”

Ludwig Göransson accepts the #GoldenGlobes award for for Best Score Motion Picture! 🎵 Congratulations! pic.twitter.com/IVW28K3HTb

— Golden Globes (@goldenglobes) January 12, 2026

“We place tremendous value on this craft and the artists who practice it; their work is essential to the creative excellence we honor at the Golden Globes,” the spokesperson said. “We greatly appreciate the composers whose work elevates every project we honor and are grateful for the creativity, skill, and impact this community brings to our industry.”

This year’s Best Original Score nominees were Hans Zimmer for F1: The Movie, Alexandre Desplat for Frankenstein, Max Richter for Hamnet, Johnny Greenwood for One Battle After Another, Ludwig Göransson for Sinners and Kangding Ray for Sirāt.

During Sunday’s award ceremony, it was actor Joe Keery and musician Charli xcx who presented the Best Original Score category during a commercial break, with the Golden Globe going to Göransson for Sinners.

The change in how the category is broadcast “feels a little bit ignorant,” Zimmer told Deadline on the red carpet of Sunday’s ceremony. “We are the psychological underbelly of the whole thing.”

The iconic composer continued to say that he “wouldn’t talk” to the person who decided to cut the category from the televised award show.

“The composer has such an important role in making films by the time we come to the music, the director has been through war,” Zimmer said. “Our first job is to remind him why he did this film in the first place… This is a room filled with filmmakers who understand the mechanics and understand when I come home after working on a film, my children don’t know who I am because I haven’t been home for months.”

The Golden Globes has expanded its reach over the past two years, with 2024 adding Cinematic and Box Office Achievement and Best Stand-Up Comedian on Television to the lineup and 2025 adding the Best Podcast Award.