Jerrod Carmichael explains why he's hosting Golden Globes: 'I'm here because I'm Black'

The Golden Globes were looking to return to the spotlight for the right reasons on Tuesday night after a scandal rocked the Hollywood Foreign Press Association two years ago, and host Jerrod Carmichael wasted no time in addressing the issue.

We're not talking about the bribery accusations (2010). Or the payola allegations (2011). Or the sexual assault allegations by Brendan Fraser in 2018 (who understandably opted to be a no-show this year). No, the oft-maligned and oft-mocked awards show — which nonetheless has drawn huge stars and been a must-stop on the Oscar-race circuit — came under fire (again) in early 2021 when a Los Angeles Times exposé revealed the lack of diversity in its membership, the most damning fact being that it didn't have any Black voters.

A standout stand-up who's no stranger to unpacking controversial topics, Carmichael went right to work; he spent his entire monologue explaining how he came to be standing on the Globes stage by sitting on the edge of it and unspooling a story. "I'll tell you why I'm here. I'm here because I'm Black," he began. "The Golden Globe Awards did not air last year because the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which I won't say they were a racist organization, but they didn't have a single Black member until George Floyd died. So do with that information what you will."

Carmichael said he received a phone call from Golden Globes producer Stephen Hill, who asked him to host the ceremony. "I was like, 'Whoa,'" the comedian recalled. "All right, one minute you're making tea at home. The next you're invited to be the Black face of an embattled white organization." Carmichael explained that he was torn because he felt he was only being asked to emcee because he's Black. Hill stopped him and said he was being invited to host because he's "talented," "charming," and "one of the greatest comedians of a generation."

But, as Carmichael quipped, "Stephen's Black, so what does he know? Like, he's only producing this show cause he's Black. You're not going to tell him why he's here either."

Seeking a second opinion, Carmichael dialed up his friend Avery, his voice of reason when he has "a moral racial dilemma." She asked how much they were paying him, and when he tried to explain that it wasn't about the money — the money was $500,000 — "she said, 'Boy, if you don't put on a good suit and take that white people money...' He joked: "I kind of forget that where I'm from. We all live by a strict take-the-money mentality. I bet Black informants for the FBI in the '60s, their families were still proud of them."

Carmichael ultimately opted to take the gig and was proud of the decision… until he received an email from his publicist saying that HFPA President Helen Hoehne wanted to have a one-on-one meeting with him. He passed, saying he recognized a trap, and his publicist told him the organization wasn't really asking to meet; they were insisting. "I'm like, 'For what? They're gonna fire me?" he recapped. "'They haven't had a Black host in 79 years! They're gonna fire the first one? I'm unfireable.'"

Carmichael then revealed that he was asked a third time to meet with Hoehne, with the explanation that she simply wanted to "educate" him on the changes the organization has made to in the name of diversity.

"And I'll be totally honest with everyone here tonight: I don't really need to hear that," he said. "I took this job assuming they hadn't changed at all. I heard they got six new Black members — congrats to them, whatever, sure — but it's not why I'm here. I'm here truly because all of you — I look out to this room and I see a lot of talented people, people that I admire, people that I would like to be like, people that I'm jealous of, and people that are actually really incredible artists. And regardless of whatever the hell the Hollywood Foreign Press Association's past may be, this is an evening when we get to celebrate. And I think this industry deserves evenings like these. And I'm happy you all are here."

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