Awards Season has started in Hollywood! That means stars from film, television and music will grace multiple red carpets in stunning gowns, interview with numerous journalists and pose for the GlamBOT.
Every year, awards season kicks off with the Golden Globes, which honor the work of actors and filmmakers in film and television. This year’s award show included multiple artists who were first-time nominees and winners, as well as veteran nominees and winners from past years.
While it is a night of celebrating the arts with glitz and glamour, a few questions arise; whether audiences even care about such award shows anymore, whether the Globes made a comeback after much controversy in 2021 and if attitudes are shifting in Hollywood.
In 2021, the Globes faced significant backlash for choosing only Caucasian winners and awarding only white-male directors. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which houses the voting members, was criticized for not having any Black voters and “accused of making sexist and racist remarks and soliciting favors from celebrities and movie studios,” according to an LA Times exposé. The scandal became so big that many celebrities boycotted the Golden Globes and the show was canceled in 2022.
In 2023, there was a change in leadership and diversity. Dick Clark Productions purchased the “assets, rights and properties” from the Hollywood Foreign Press, stating they would be handling the planning, producing and hosting of the live show going forward. According to a 2023 press release on GoldenGlobes.com, the voting body increased to 310 with “25% Latinx, 14% Asian, 10% Black, 9% Middle Eastern and 42% White … [and] at least 17% of the voting body self-identified as LGBTQIA+.”
But does the audience still care?
Deadline reported the “Golden Globe Awards averaged 9.3 million Live+Same Day viewers, according to Nielsen data – a 2% dip from the 2024 result (9.267M vs. 9.466M).” This is still a significant increase in viewership from 6.9 million viewers in 2021 and 6.25 million in 2023, which was an all-time low.
So, is a shift coming to Hollywood and the Golden Globe Awards? Are sentiments changing? They might be.
TikTok creator CelestialSav posted her opinion on the message the Golden Globe Awards are trying to convey this year – honoring hard work and talent over star power. She explicitly focused on Ariana Grande losing in the Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture category for her role in Wicked to Zoe Saldaña for her role in Emilia Pérez. The TikToker explained that Ariana Grande “has already been celebrated in many ways that most artists can only dream of. Demi Moore said [during the show] she’s been acting for 45 years and never won any award. So for Ariana Grande to just step right back into that [acting] space and take over award season [doesn’t] allow others to be celebrated, who haven’t been celebrated yet.” She also mentioned how there has been heavy campaigning for Ariana Grande to be nominated and win the most prestigious awards due to the box office success of Wicked, to the point where she was submitted for a Supporting Actress category when she was, in fact, one of the leads of Wicked. This strategic move was to ensure her nomination and win in a supposedly less competitive category. However, by giving the award to Zoe Saldaña, the Globes convey that the box office numbers of a film and the popularity of a star don’t trump talent showcased in films with a lesser marketing budget. CelestialSav and others online have agreed with this result, saying Hollywood and the Golden Globes might finally be heading in a better direction.
Hollywood is no stranger to handling controversial topics, whether on-screen or off. One thing is undeniable: the award season will always give us something enticing to talk about.
