Sandra Oh, while co-hosting the 2019 Golden Globes ceremony on Sunday with Andy Samberg, took a break from the jokes for a serious moment: to acknowledge all the strides made towards more inclusive storytelling in Hollywood this year.
“If I could take a moment here in all honesty,” Oh said after Samberg referred to Crazy Rich Asians, BlacKkKlansman, Black Panther, and FX’s Pose. “I said yes to the fear of being on this stage tonight because I wanted to be here to look out to this audience and witness this moment of change. And I’m not fooling myself, next year could be different — it probably will be — but right now this moment is real.”
Oh’s sincerity showed as she began to tear up, even though at least one person audibly laughed during the address. Nevertheless, Oh persisted.
“Trust me, it is real because I see you and I see you, all these faces of change — and now so will everyone else,” she continued, pointing at two people in the audience off-camera. The camera then panned to individuals like Regina King (nominated for her performance in If Beale Street Could Talk) and Rosamund Pike (nominated for A Private War).
And now, back to the jokes.
Oh and Samberg kicked off the monologue by poking fun at the situation with Kevin Hart and the Oscars. Hart was named Oscars host for 2019 but dropped out over controversy surrounding his past homophobic tweets and stand-up comedy jokes.
“We are gonna have some fun, give out some awards,” Samberg began before they collectively finished, “one lucky audience member. Will. Host. The Oscars.”
As an added stinger, Oh tacked on they are only hosting the Globes ceremony because “we’re the only two people left in Hollywood who haven’t gotten in trouble for saying something offensive.”
Samberg promised to roast celebrities in the audience “Gervais style” — a nod to Ricky Gervais’ semi-controversial turns as Globes host — but they instead pulled off a gag in which they just complemented everyone and called it a “sick burn.” (Example: “Michael B. Jordan. More like Michael B. AF. You look like a snack, Michael.”)
One of the biggest laughs of the night came when the pair turned their attention to Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga in recycling that “a hundred people in the room” line Gaga used for various promotional interviews for A Star Is Born… in front of Gaga. “There could be a hundred people in the room and 99 don’t believe in you and you just need one to believe in you and that was Bradley Cooper,” joked as an audible “It’s true!” erupted from Gaga.
However, the pop diva wasn’t the only one with an intense reaction from one of these bits. Oh called Crazy Rich Asians the first movie to feature a predominantly Asian cast “since Ghost in the Shell and Aloha,” referring to both Scarlett Johansson and Emma Stone’s films that featured whitewashed parts based on Asian characters. Stone could be heard shouting off-camera, “I’m sorry.”
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