Last year’s Golden Globes ceremony was surprisingly fun for a Golden Globes ceremony, with hosts Andy Samberg and Sandra Oh opening the show with a very fun play on Ricky Gervais’ mean-spirited opening monologues that involved angrily complimenting the celebrities in the audience rather than bitterly mocking them. It was a nice change of pace, and Oh even wrapped it up with a heartfelt aside about how important it was to see the entertainment industry letting her host the show even though she’s not a straight, white man (even though her co-host was a straight, white man). It seemed like it was indicative of a positive shift for the Globes, so, naturally, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association has decided to follow it up by… bringing Rick Gervais back for the 500th time.
This comes from Deadline, which says this will actually only be Gervais’ fifth time hosting the Globes (then why does it feel like so many?), and it includes a statement from him where he threatens that this will be “the very last time” he does this and so it could “make for a fun evening.” In other words, he doesn’t care who he pisses off this time! As opposed to all the other times, where Gervais showed an abundance of restraint while snickering at his own gags. This isn’t part of the HFPA’s official narrative, but it also seems likely that—given how reluctant everyone else in Hollywood is about doing one of these big hosting gigs—Gervais is one of the few people left who would actually want to host the Golden Globes. Also, he probably say something controversial that gets people talking on social media, which is the only thing that matters anyway.
The 77th Golden Globes will be held on January 5, 2020.
