Ricky Gervais Sends Final ‘Golden Globes’ Message to Celebrities Ahead of 2021 Ceremony

Ahead of the 2021 Golden Globe Awards, former host Ricky Gervais sent a final message to the celebrities nominated and appearing at the virtual ceremony. In a tweet, Gervais shared a clip of his Hollywood-skewering monologue from the 2020 Golden Globes, his “last time” hosting. “Everyone can relax,” Gervais wrote in the tweet, adding a laughing-crying face emoji. “Have a great night.”

Gervais was the first person to host the Golden Globes show solo. He hosted from 2010 to 2012 and happily earned a reputation of being incredibly vicious and taking a sort-of “roast” style toward his role in the event. The Hollywood Foreign Press brought in Tina Fey and Amy Poehler to host the show from 2013 to 2015, seeming to have fired Gervais, though he came back in 2016.

Jimmy Fallon hosted in 2017, and Seth Meyers handled hosting duties in 2018. Andy Samberg and Sandra Oh hosted in 2019, and then Gervais came back for his fifth, and apparently final, time as host in 2020, and he left no stone unturned. The comedian joked about everything from the poorly received Cats film to actress Felicity Huffman’s imprisonment over the college admissions scandal.

Before concluding his opening monologue, Gervais issued a challenge to the nominees, saying, “If you do win an award tonight, don’t use the platform to make a political speech. You’re in no position to lecture the public about anything, you know nothing about the real world.” He then added, “Most of you spend less time in school than Greta Thunberg. So if you win, come up, accept your award, thank your agent, and your god, and get the f— off.”

He subsequently explained his position here, revealing that his position has nothing to do with his stances, but everything to do with how the general public perceives Hollywood. “I have nothing against the most famous people in the world using their privileged, global platform to tell the world what they believe. I even agree with most of it,” he tweeted in February 2020. “I just tried to warn them that when they lecture everyday, hard working people, it has the opposite effect. Peace.”