Acerbic British comedian Ricky Gervais kicked off the Golden Globes ceremony on Sunday with cutting jokes about the rise of streaming services, diversity in Hollywood and the sexual misconduct scandal that has roiled the industry.
Gervais, hosting the awards ceremony for a fifth time, threw caution to the wind with jokes that drew mostly nervous laughter in the room of A-list celebrities. He quipped that celebrities are in “no position to lecture the public about anything.”
“If you do win an award tonight, don’t use it as a platform to make a political speech. You know nothing about the real world.
“Most of you spent less time in school than Greta Thunberg,” Gervais said, referring to the 17-year-old climate activist.
“So if you win, come up, accept your little award, thank your agent and your god and f*** off.”
“That’s it,” Gervais, 58, added,
Gervais quipped that many actors had abandoned traditional television networks and movie studios for streaming services like Netflix, Disney Plus, Amazon Studios and Apple TV+.
The remainder opted for superhero movies, he said.
"Their job isn't acting anymore. Their job is going to the gym twice a day and taking steroids," he joked.
Gervais noted that the room was packed with entertainment executives.
"They are all terrified of Ronan Farrow. He's coming for you," he said, referring to the American journalist whose reports helped fuel the sexual misconduct scandal that has swept Hollywood over the past two years.
While preparing for the show's traditional In Memoriam segment, Gervais said he resisted.
"When I saw the list of people who died, it wasn't diverse enough. I thought 'Nah. Not on my watch.'"