Nikki Glaser pokes fun at Ozempic and ‘Wicked’ finger-holding in her Golden Globes monologue
Following back-to-back misfires with Golden Globe hosts Jo Koy and Jerrod Carmichael, it was Nikki Glaser‘s chance to take the reins of Hollywood’s biggest party on Sunday.
During her 10-minute monologue (watch above), the stand-up comedian walked a fine line between poking fun of the A-list celebrities in attendance and giving them their proverbial flowers for making it to the Beverly Hilton as either nominees, presenters, or guests.
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She started off with a joke about how the event should really be called “Ozempic’s biggest night.” She let everyone know that she was not there to roast them, because they were so “powerful” they could do anything … “except tell the country who to vote for.” She asked Ariana Grande to “hold [her] finger,” a joke to the ongoing Wicked press tour between Grande and Cynthia Erivo. “My boyfriend’s boyfriend really loved Wicked,” Glaser later teased.
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The hotel’s servers are actually the “hardest working people in show business,” she noted, before listing off all of the movie stars who were now slumming it on television, including Kate Winslet and Eddie Redmayne. Glaser was so impressed by Zendaya in Dune: Part Two that she “woke up for all of [her] scenes.” She told Timothée Chalamet that he had “gorgeous eyelashes on [his] upper lip,” referring to his French aviator vibes, and then asked Adam Sandler to give his best “Chalamet” voice from the crowd, which he did to great guffaws.
Glaser noted that Nicole Kidman was up for her 20th nomination at the Golden Globes, and the host thanked Kidman’s husband, Keith “Kooky Koala” Urban, for strumming the guitar around the house so much that she wanted to leave and get other jobs. One of Glaser’s best quips was introducing Adrien Brody as a “two-time Holocaust survivor,” referring to his roles in The Pianist and The Brutalist.
As Glaser told Gold Derby earlier this week, she had been testing out her material in local Los Angeles comedy clubs in recent weeks, and her intro, while relatively safe, went over big in the room.
SEEGolden Globes: The complete list of winners (updating)
Is Glaser somebody that you’d like to see emcee another Golden Globes ceremony in the future? Grade her performance, A through F, in our poll below, and then be sure to sound off with your hot takes in our forums.
Glaser rose to fame thanks with her off-color cracks at the roasts of Rob Lowe (2016), Bruce Willis (2018), Alec Baldwin (2019), and Tom Brady (2024). She has appeared in such movies as Trainwreck (2015) and I Feel Pretty (2018), and on such shows as Inside Amy Schumer (2013-15), and A.P. Bio (2018). Reality TV fans may recognize her from The Masked Singer (in which she wore the Snowstorm costume) and Dancing With the Stars (in which she was voted out first).
In addition to hosting this year’s Golden Globes, she’s also a nominee for her stand-up special Nikki Glaser: Someday You’ll Die. That same comedy album is up for a 2025 Grammy Award, and it recently lost the variety special Emmy Award to Dick Van Dyke 98 Years of Magic.
Prior to Glaser, other Golden Globes hosts from the modern era are Ricky Gervais (2010-12, 2016, 2020), Tina Fey and Amy Poehler (2013-15, 2021), Jimmy Fallon (2017), Seth Meyers (2018), Andy Samberg & Sandra Oh (2019), Carmichael (2023), and Koy (2024). There was no televised ceremony, and thus no host, in 2022, due to controversies surrounding the group that ran the organization at that time.
Note: Golden Globes producer Dick Clark Productions is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a joint venture between Eldridge and Penske Media Corporation, which owns Gold Derby.
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