Jerrod Carmichael’s Golden Globes Monologue Didn’t Shy Away From Show’s Controversies

The Golden Globes returned to NBC Monday night with comedian Jerrod Carmichael as the host. He did not shy away from the controversies that plague the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the small group of journalists that hand out the awards, in his opening monologue. Among the many criticisms leveled against the group in 2021 was the revelation that it had no Black voting members at the time.

“I’ll tell you why I’m here: I’m here ’cause I’m Black,” Carmichael told the audience at the Beverly Hilton. “I’ll tell you what’s been going on. This show, the Golden Globe Awards, did not air last year because the Hollywood Foreign Press Association – which I won’t say were a racist organization, but they didn’t have a single Black member until George Floyd died. So do with that information what you will. I’ll tell you how I got here.”

Carmichael then joked about being invited to host by Stephen Hill, the executive VP of creative for Globes producer MRC. “One minute you’re making mint tea at home, the next minute you’re invited to be the Black face of an embattled organization,” he said. “Life comes at you pretty fast, you know?” Carmichael told Hill he was “torn” because, on one hand, this was a great opportunity, but he also thought he was only being asked because he’s Black.

“And Stephen said, ‘Let me stop you right there. You are being asked to host this show because you are talented. You’re being asked to host this show because you’re charming,’” Carmichael recalled. “But Stephen’s Black, so what does he know?”

Next, he joked about the paycheck. He called up a friend who “for the sake of this monologue represents every Black person in America.” After explaining why the offer to host was a “moral racial dilemma,” she asked Carmichael how much he was being paid. He hemmed and hawed at first, but he eventually said $500,000.

“And she said, ‘Boy, if you don’t put on a good suit and take them white people money,’” Carmichael said. “And I kind of forget that where I’m from, we all live by a strict take-the-money mentality. Black informants for the FBI in the 60s, I bet their families were still proud of them.”

The Golden Globes were not broadcast last year after NBC refused, as a show of support for a boycott of the HFPA. The group has faced criticism for the way it decides the Golden Globes for decades, but a series of reports in 2021 revived awareness in many of them. Before the 2021 show aired, The Los Angeles Times reported that none of the HFPA’s 87 voting members were Black. The HFPA’s initial moves were still not enough for many, leading to an industry-wide boycott and the 2022 awards were not broadcast. In July 2022, the HFPA underwent a major restructuring. A month later, NBC confirmed it would air the 2023 awards but only signed a one-year deal.