Watch Ricky Gervais skewer Hollywood in his 2020 Golden Globes opening speech. Marking his fifth year as host of what is widely acknowledged as the last major awards ceremony before the Oscars, Gervais once again appeared to be in top form.
Back in 2010, Gervais hosted his first ever Golden Globes ceremony and quickly established himself as both hilarious and controversial. Lacking the fear that has traditionally kept past hosts from saying exactly what they think, Gervais took aim at a variety of controversial topics in Hollywood at the time – including Mel Gibson’s struggles with alcohol and the star’s still quite sensitive arrest. At the time, Gervais explained away his own no holds barred attitude by reiterating that he would never be asked to return as host, and that the Hollywood Foreign Press had certainly made a mistake by asking him to host. Yet regardless of those who Gervais may have offended or insulted with his brand of wicked black humor, The Office co-creator and star surprised many by returning for a second outing as host in 2011. By that point, it was clear that despite his sense of humor, The Golden Globes had a definite bright spot in what had previously been criticized as a rather dull awards show.
Few could have expected that Gervais would continue to host the Golden Globes in subsequent years, yet his fifth stint as host of the 2020 awards ceremony proves otherwise. As was to be expected, Gervais was once again in top form – taking on everyone and everything at a time when most comedians are being criticized and often outright condemned for their brand of humor. Gone are the days when Gervais backed up many of his bawdy jokes with the disclaimer that he wouldn’t be returning again or that the Hollywood Foreign Press had made a mistake in hiring him. Instead, the famed comedian now simply proclaims that he does not care at all about anyone’s reaction. The end results were provocative, timely, hilarious and 100% pure Gervais. His opening monologue was particularly savage and you can check it out via Benny Johnson’s Twitter account, below:
Without a doubt, there is much here to create a broad spectrum of reactions as Gervais sides with iconic director Martin Scorsese over his earlier comments regarding Marvel, chides Leonardo DiCaprio for dating women well below his age range, and even directly rebukes Hollywood over its superficial concern for morality. Some of the reactions of the stars in the audience are particularly priceless as well – as evidenced by Tom Hanks’ eyebrow raising after one of Gervais’ more brutally delivered comedic statements. Throughout it all, Gervais delivered his material like a man on a mission, without any sign at all of softening or letting up from the style that first made him a Golden Globes staple a decade earlier.
It certainly takes guts for a comedian today to take the stage at a major awards program like the Golden Globes and drop the sort of material that Gervais did. There is guaranteed to be fallout from this among those on social media or within Hollywood itself, but Gervais never enters into anything lightly without being aware of the potential consequences. It’s this sort of attitude that has continued to make him a breath of fresh air at time when so many of us really just need a good laugh.
Next: The Office: How Ricky Gervais Influenced Michael Scott’s Role As Manager
Source: Benny Johnson
