78th Golden Globes

Film award ceremony in 2021

5 min read

The 78th Golden Globe Awards honored the best in American television of 2020, as well as film in 2020 and early 2021, as chosen by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA). The ceremony took place on February 28, 2021, nearly two months later than normal, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cinema and on television. Produced by Dick Clark Productions and the HFPA, and aired live on NBC in the United States, this was the first bi-coastal Golden Globes ceremony, with Tina Fey co-hosting from the Rainbow Room in New York City, and Amy Poehler co-hosting from The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California.

The nominees were announced on February 3, 2021. Jane Fonda and Norman Lear were announced as the recipients of the Cecil B. DeMille Award and the Carol Burnett Award, respectively.

With 4 wins, The Crown won the most at the ceremony, including Best TV Series – Drama. Schitt's Creek and The Queen's Gambit won 2 each, with the former winning Best TV Series – Musical or Comedy and the latter winning Best Miniseries or TV Film. In film, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, Nomadland, and Soul won 2 each, with Nomadland winning Best Motion Picture – Drama and Borat winning Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.

Production

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were announced as the hosts of the ceremony, for the fourth time, in January 2020, but for the very first time to co-host the Golden Globes bicoastally, both from Manhattan and from Beverly Hills, California. By June 2020, the HFPA decided to postpone the ceremony from its normal date in early January to February 28 due to both the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cinema and on television production. On February 2, 2021, it was reported that the ceremony would be held from both the Rainbow Room in New York City and the Golden Globes' usual home at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, allowing those on the East Coast to participate without having to make the cross-country trip. The nominees were announced on February 3, 2021.

Timetable

The eligibility period for motion pictures was extended to February 28, 2021.

Winners and nominees

Film

Films with multiple nominations

The following films received multiple nominations:

Films with multiple wins

The following films received multiple wins:

Television

Series with multiple nominations

The following television series received multiple nominations:

Series with multiple wins

The following series received multiple wins:

Cecil B. DeMille Award

The Cecil B. DeMille Award is an honorary award bestowed to honorees who have made a significant mark in the film industry. It is named after its first recipient, director Cecil B. DeMille.

Jane Fonda

Carol Burnett Award

The Carol Burnett Award is an honorary award given for outstanding and lasting contributions to television on or off the screen. It is named in honor of its first recipient, actress Carol Burnett.

Norman Lear

Ceremony

Golden Globe Ambassadors

The Golden Globe Ambassadors are Jackson Lee and Satchel Lee, the son and daughter of Spike Lee and Tonya Lewis Lee.

Presenters

The following individuals presented awards at the ceremony:

Reception

Critical response

According to the review aggregator website Metacritic, which sampled 15 critic reviews and calculated a weighted average score of 35 out of 100, the ceremony received "generally unfavorable reviews". On Rotten Tomatoes, 10% of 21 critics have given the ceremony a positive review, with an average rating of 3.52/10. The critics consensus on the website reads: "Disappointingly dull and disturbingly lacking in self-awareness, The 78th Golden Globes ceremony wastes its menagerie of celebrities—and some well-deserved wins—on a stilted ceremony overshadowed by HFPA's questionable behind-the-scenes behavior."

Controversies

The ceremony received criticism regarding certain nominations. James Corden's nomination for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy (for his performance in The Prom) and the two nominations for Emily in Paris have faced controversy. The HFPA also drew criticism for the placement of Minari in the Best Foreign Language Film category, despite being an American film about a Korean-American family; it ultimately won. The determination that the film would be eligible for this category rather than Best Motion Picture – Drama, based on the Globes' rule that any film with over 50% of its dialogue not in English would be considered a Foreign Language Film, invited controversy. Lulu Wang, whose film The Farewell was subject to the same rule the previous year, wrote that "I have not seen a more American film than #Minari this year. It's a story about an immigrant family, IN America, pursuing the American dream. We really need to change these antiquated rules that characterize American as only English-speaking". Author Viet Thanh Nguyen wrote that the "decision speaks powerfully to the issue of what makes something — a language or a person or a culture — foreign". Many other filmmakers, actors, and authors, including Nia DaCosta, Daniel Dae Kim, Min Jin Lee, Franklin Leonard, Simu Liu, Phil Lord, Celeste Ng, Harry Shum Jr., and Phillipa Soo criticized the decision on similar grounds.

The nominations for the film Music also faced criticism for the casting of Maddie Ziegler as an autistic person, and concerns over what impact the film could have on the perception and handling of autistic people, with co-host Tina Fey joking that "Twitter is saying it's the most offensive casting since Kate Hudson was the Weightwatchers spokesperson". Hosts Fey and Amy Poehler also acknowledged the recent revelation that the HFPA has not had a single Black member for over twenty years.

Viewership

The ceremony received 6.9 million viewers in the United States, with a 1.5 Nielsen rating among adults 18 to 49, representing a 68% drop in viewership from the previous year's ceremony. It is the least viewed Golden Globe Awards telecast since the 65th Golden Globe Awards in 2008, which was solely a press conference due to the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike.