Ricky Gervais’ fiery Golden Globes monologue slamming Hollywood downplayed, ignored by much of media
Golden Globes recap: Host Ricky Gervais tears into Hollywood elite, winners get political
Jonathan Hunt reports from Los Angeles on the night’s biggest moments.
Golden Globes host Ricky Gervais did not get the warmest reception from the mainstream media after his fiery monologue that took direct aim at Hollywood went ablaze on social media.
The Washington Post offered a scathing review of Gervais’ performance, declaring that «nobody cared» about his barbs against the A-listers in Tinseltown in its headline.
Hank Stuever, the Washington Post’s TV critic, claimed Gervais’ monologue was filled with «all-too-easy digs» at Felicity Huffman, Joe Pesci, Leonardo DiCaprio and Judy Dench. However, he complimented the comedian’s «best work,» praising his «brutally blunt twist on his faux disdain for Hollywood and the Industry.»
«‘So what’ was Gervais’s tongue-in-cheek refrain. (“It’s the last time,” he said, about his hosting gig. “Who cares?”) He shouldn’t be up there, you shouldn’t be watching — this is entirely known…» Stuever wrote before complaining that the Golden Globes had aired too close to the holidays.
He later summarized the entire ceremony by writing, «Eyebrows are something the Golden Globes are supposed to raise. Maybe next year, if we’re all still around.»
RICKY GERVAIS SAID HE HAD A ‘BLAST’ AT THE GOLDEN GLOBES: ‘MAKE JOKES, NOT WAR’
Los Angeles Times TV critic Lorraine Ali was even more brutal with her review on the «snarky British comedian.»
«Forget the escapist magic of Hollywood. Nihilism was the name of the game when host Ricky Gervais opened the Golden Globes on Sunday night with a gloom-and-doom monologue so cynical it made the effervescent Tom Hanks scowl,» Ali began her piece. «The host’s acerbic wit was nothing new. He’d certainly offended in the past from the awards stage, and ads for Sunday’s telecast played on the idea that anything could happen, including Gervais being a jerk. His knack for ripping on Hollywood and offending the glitterati is well known among the thin-skinned in the industry.»
Ali suggested that Gervais should have been more political, pointing to President Trump’s impeachment, the escalating conflict with Iran and ongoing wildfires in Australia.
«The last thing anyone needed was for the smirking master of ceremonies to reprimand them for having hope, or taunt the room for trying to use their influence to change things for the better,» Ali elaborated. «Almost immediately, however, it became clear Gervais wasn’t the funniest guy in the room at the 77th Golden Globes — and he wasn’t running the show, either.»
She later added that his commentary on Hollywood «would have meant far more if Gervais himself had been brave enough to drop the tired agitator shtick and, for once, read the room.»
Both the LA Times and the New York Times’ reviews of Gervais’ performance omitted his unflattering reference to climate activist Greta Thunberg when he told the crowd, «You know nothing about the real world. Most of you spent less time in school than Greta Thunberg.»
The left-leaning site Slate ranked Gervais’ jokes «in order of dickishness» and divided his jabs into categories including «Just Plain Mean» and «Swing and a Miss.»
According to Slate senior editor Sam Adams, all the jabs that singled out A-listers were «just plain mean,» including his joke about «The Irishman» director Martin Scorsese’s height. And, his bit about encouraging award winners to skip political speeches since they’re in «no position to lecture the public» was considered to be a «swing and a miss.»
However, Adams did acknowledge Gervais’ «truth to power» jokes, pointing to his attacks on Disney, Amazon and Apple — which, as the host put it, relied on «sweatshops in China.»
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NewsBusters reported Monday that ABC News’ «Good Morning America» alotted the most coverage to Gervais with 47 seconds of its hours-long morning program dedicated to his biting humor. NBC News’ «Today» offered just 15 seconds while «CBS This Morning» referred to the awards show emcee for only seven seconds.
Meanwhile, CNN and MSNBC completely ignored Gervais altogether, with the latter raising eyebrows since NBC had aired the ceremony.
