Jerrod Carmichael’s best moments hosting the 2023 Golden Globes
Jerrod Carmichael hosted the 80th annual Golden Globe Awards proved he was more than up to the task while not shying away from the elephant in the room.
Emmy-award winning comedian Jerrod Carmichael hosted the 80th annual Golden Globe Awards on Tuesday proved he was more than up to the task. At the same time, he didn’t shy away from the controversy surrounding the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), why NBC wouldn’t broadcast the ceremony last year and how he was chosen to be the emcee.
Carmichael cut straight to the chase in his monologue pointing out the elephant in the room: “I’ll tell you why I’m here,” he said looking out at the room full of assembled celebrities. “I’m here because I’m Black.”
“I won’t say [HFPA] were a racist organization, but they didn’t have a single Black member until George Floyd died,” the host joked. “So do with that information what you will.”
The ceremony was cancelled last year after a reports alleged systemic racism in the Hollywood Foreign Press Association which hands out the Golden Globes. Top actors, producers, and others involved in film and TV boycotted the show and NBC, the network that had traditional broadcast the event, in solidarity with them decided not to air the ceremony.
Jerrod Carmichael talked about the moral dilemma of hosting the Golden Globes
The first-time award ceremony emcee continued with the moral struggle he went through after he was asked to host the Golden Globes. While Carmichael is a talented writer, producer, and actor starring in his NBC sitcom, ‘The Carmichael Show’, as well as a stand-up comedian in his 2022 HBO special ‘Rothaniel’, which earned him a Primetime Emmy Award, he knew why he got the call to helm the ceremony.
“I’ll tell you how I got here. Why am I here on the stage?” he began explaining how the whole process worked its way to the present moment. “I was at home, drinking tea, when I got a phone call from my man Stephen Hill. He said, “Jerrod, I’m producing the 80th Golden Globes and it would be an honor if you would agree to be the host,” Carmichael continued.
“I was like, ‘Whoa.’ One minute you’re making mint tea at home, and next you’re invited to be the Black face of an embattled white organization. Life comes at you fast!”
The comedian expressed his moral turmoil “I’m torn. I’ll be honest with you. I’m only being asked to host this, I know, because I’m Black,” he told Hill. To which his friend replied, “You’re being asked to host this show because you’re talented… charming… one of the greatest comedians of a generation,” the emcee told the audience.
“But Stephen’s Black, so what does he know? He’s only producing the show because he’s Black!” Carmichael quipped. “They’re not gonna tell him why he’s here either!”
Carmichael’s “homegirl Avery” helps tip the scales
The comedian was still having trouble coming to a decision, so he said that he called up his “homegirl Avery” his go to when he has a moral dilemma that he needs help with and “who, for the sake of this monologue, represents every black person in America.”
She didn’t beat around the bush and asked how much they were going to pay him, which he reflected on later “we all live by a strict ‘take the money.’ mentality.” But he said that it wasn’t about the money. “Jerrod, enough of all that! How much are they paying you?” she insisted. He told her $500,000 upon which she said: “Boy, if you don’t put on a nice suit and take them white people’s money!”