Shogun, The Brutalist and Emilia Perez win big at The Golden Globes
The Golden Globes came back with a bang, featuring high viewership and female comedian Nikki Glaser as the host who delivered roasts.
By: Rachel Meatte
The Golden Globes (GG) came back with a vengeance on Jan. 6 since it had its lowest viewership 2 years ago at 6.3 million. This year, the GG reached over 10 million viewers with female host and comedian Nikki Glaser who has stirred the social pot on many occasions.
Glaser won her big shot becoming the host of the show after it struggled to pull in viewers from a slew of scandals and a significant dip in viewership.

You can stream the show on Paramount+ for a monthly subscription of $7.99 per month with ads or $12.99 without ads.
In 2021, The GG was accused of only awarding Caucasian winners and only white males for Best Director. In addition, they were also accused of making sexist and racist remarks against black people and using celebrities and studios to do favors for them. This created an uproar from the public and artists who chose to stop attending the GG altogether.
In 2023, there was a change to leadership and diversity with Dick Clark Productions purchasing the assets, rights and properties from the Foreign Hollywood Press. They stated that they would be handling the live show going forward. They increased the voting group of members from 95 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+,” according to the GG website.
Still, the awards show has struggled to bring in new viewers and has been on a steady decline for the past few years. Glaser, who has been a comedian for the past 20 years, took this opportunity to throw down punches at Nicole Kidman, Timothée Chalamet, Wicked and Ben Affleck. She didn’t hold back and came after Hollywood’s most elite and favored people.
In her opening sequence, Glaser made jokes about the stereotypes of Hollywood echelon: “Welcome to the Golden Globes, Ozempic’s biggest night. This feels like I finally made it. I’m in a room full of producers at The Beverly Hilton and this time all of my clothes are on. It was worth it.”
Glaser joked about different feature films including Wicked. “In Wicked, some people complained that the movie was ruined by people singing. And then in Joker 2, some people complained that the movie was ruined by the images on the screen and the sounds that accompanied them. I’m sorry, Joker 2. Where’s their table? Oh, they’re not here,” Glaser said.
Glaser won the night with her witty humor and refusal to go easy on Hollywood. She helped bring a favorable look to the production and showed that no one is off limits when it comes to humor. In addition to Glaser’s act, the winners at the GG’s were undoubtedly Hulu’s show “Shogun,” “The Brutalist” and Netflix’s “Emilia Perez” who won 4 out of the 10 nominations it received.
“Emilia Perez” is a queer thriller musical directed by French filmmaker Jacques Audiard who previously directed “A Self-Made Hero” (1996), “Dheepan” (2016), and “The Sister’s Brothers” (2018). While it’s not based on a true story, the French production is based on Audiard’s opera libretto, which was loosely adapted from author Boris Razon’s 2018 novel “Écoute.”
It details the story of a Mexican lawyer who is offered an unusual job to help a notorious cartel boss retire and transition into living as a woman. Zoe Saldana plays the young hotshot lawyer who is called upon by the cartel drug lord to help fake her death so that she can live a new life outside of crime.
The film has generally been praised by critics and fans but has stirred some controversy in Mexico with its stereotypes and subpar acting by American singer and actress Selena Gomez. The film also highlighted transgender actress Karla Sofía Gascón who plays the drug lord looking to transition from male to female. The film offers a strong contrast to the image of male dominated drug cartels and puts a spin on different stereotypes about the industry and its innerworkings.
“The Brutalist” won 3 of the seven nominations it received including Best Motion Picture, Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture-Drama and Best Director in a Motion Picture. During his acceptance speech, Adrian Brody, who won Best Actor mentioned that his character Tóth resembled the remarkable journey his mother experienced.
“You know, this story is really the character’s journey, is very reminiscent of my mother’s and my ancestors’ journey of fleeing war and coming to this great country,” Brody said.
“The Brutalist” is a drama about a visionary architect who flees postwar Europe to start a new life in the U.S. with his wife. The film showcases the good and bad in human behavior while exploring the difficulties of immigrant assimilation. László Tóth, the Brutalist, finds work in Pennsylvania where he meets a wealthy and prominent industrialist who recognizes his artistic talent.

A show that also turned heads was “Shogun,” which took home all of the four nominations it received, including Best Television Series-Drama, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor. This is in addition to the 18 of the 25 Emmy awards it won in 2024 including Best Actor, Best Female Lead and Outstanding Drama series.
“Shogun” actress Anna Sawai was the second Asian actress who also won in the Best Performance category in more than 40 years for her part as Lady Mariko. The role was based upon the 1975 James Clavell novel “Sh?gun” which was adapted into a mini-series in 1980 starring Richard Chamberlain, Toshiro Mifun and Lady Toda Buntaro as Mariko.
Hiroyuki, who stars as the male lead, gave an acceptance speech while receiving his award. “Everyone who has been in my life, all of you have brought me here. For the young actors and creators in the world, please be yourself, believe in yourself and never give up. Good luck.”
The GG surpassed 10 million viewers which was a bump in viewership from its previous year where male comedian Jo Koy hosted the award show. The live streaming was available on streaming apps by CBS and Paramount+ in addition to cable TV.
While Glaser set the stage for what was to come that night, the winners were a diverse group. Whether it was Glaser’s hard-hitting jokes or the significant changes made by leadership, this year was a win and brought back enthusiasm not seen in several years.