Golden Globes 2018: Best moments

Debra Messing calls out E! for the wage gap

Wearing all black was one way to make a statement at this year’s Golden Globes, but Debra Messing made that statement excplicit when she called out E! for perpetuating wage disparity between men and women during the network’s red carpet show.

“I was so shocked to hear that E! doesn’t believe in paying their female co-hosts as much as their male co-hosts," Messing told red carpet host Giuliana Rancic. "I miss Catt Sadler. We stand with her. That’s something we can change tomorrow.”

Sadler left E! in December after learning that her male colleagues received twice her salary.

Seth Meyer's opening monologue

“Good evening, ladies and remaining gentlemen,” the Late Night host opened the show. Meyers addressed the elephant in the room head on, focusing his opening monologue on the ongoing scandal of sexual harassment in Hollywood. "Happy new year, Hollywood! It's 2018, marijuana is finally allowed, and sexual harassment finally isn't." Meyers also joked about not being the most powerful Seth in the room as the camera flashed to Seth Rogen. "Remember when he was the guy making trouble with North Korea? Simpler times."

"The mansplaining part of the evening”

Meyers brought his “Jokes Seth Can’t Tell” segment from his own show to the Golden Globes, but Amy Poehler was just fine to tell her joke without a straight white man giving her a set up. The Parks and Rec star bantered with her fellow SNL alum about mansplaining and gave the world the soon-to-be essential hashtag #ReclaimingMyWine.

Jennifer Aniston tugging Carol Burnett's ear

The two television comedy icons presented the awards for leading actress on a television show, but there should have been a special award for chemistry between presenters. Aniston politely asked if she could tug Brunett's ear — Burnett's signature move at the end of every one of her variety shows — and the comedian acquiesed. "Kinky," Burnett joked.

Tommy Wiseau's attempted Kanye moment

James Franco won a well-deserved Golden Globe for his portrayal of… eccentric actor/director Tommy Wiseau in the movie The Disaster Artist. By Franco's invitation, Wiseau himself was there to share the honor, taking to the stage and attempting to grab the mic from Franco before he even began his speech. Fortunately, the Kanye moment was avoided.

Allison Janney put a bird on it

Margot Robbie may have been a standout in I, Tonya, but Allison Janney’s most compelling costar was definitely the bird on her shoulder, a parakeet named Little Man. When the actress came out to present a clip from the film, she did so with a fake bird on her shoulder, which immediately became one of the best accessories of the night.

Aziz Ansari gets bleeped

Hope he treats himself tonight! Aziz Ansari won the Golden Globe for best actor in a television drama for his leading role in Master of None, even though, as the actor joked, “All the websites said I was going to lose!” The next few seconds of Ansari’s speech were bleeped out, so those of us watching at home can't be certain what the actor said in between swear words. Not bleeped: Thanking Italy “for all the amazing food we ate in season 2.”

Oprah becomes the first black woman to win the Cecil B. DeMille award

As Seth Meyers said, “What a tremendous honor for Cecil B. DeMille.” The television icon accepted her lifetime achievement award by talking about what it meant to watch Sidney Poitier winning an Oscar when she was a child. Now, Oprah is inspiring a new generation as the first black woman to receive the Cecil B. DeMille Award by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. “I want to say that I value the press more than ever before as we try to navigate these complicated times, which brings me to this: what I know for sure is that speaking your truth is the most powerful tool we have.” Oprah also told the story of Recy Taylor, who in 1994 was gang-raped by six white men who were never brought to justice. “For too long women have not been heard or believed to speak their truth to the power of those men," she said. "But their time is up.”

“And here are the all-male nominees.”

While she was presenting the award for best director alongside Ron Howard, Natalie Portman slipped in an essential reminder about the gender disparity in Hollywood when it comes to control behind the camera. (Greta Gerwig, the director of Lady Bird, was a favorite for best director but didn’t receive a nomination.) The call-out moment was Natalie Rap-style ballsy.

Frances McDormand's best actress speech

“Well, I have a few things to say.” McDormand took home the Golden Globe for her role in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and brought the fire when it came to her speech. She spoke about politics and the HFPA (which, she noted, was “able to elect a female president,“) and made an open-bar offer to her fellow nominees: “All you ladies in this category, tequila’s on me.”