Diversity Issues Linger as Golden Globes Snub Black Nominees

Hollywood celebrated last night as the award season kicked into high gear with the Golden Globes.

Newcomers Ramy Youssef and AWKWAFINA both took home awards and made history while other fan favorites were snubbed.

Youssef, the 28-year-old comedian, became the first person of Egyptian descent to win in the “Best Actor in a comedy” category while Queens native AWKWAFINA became the first Asian American to win in the “Best Actress in a comedy” set. Their wins represented the only significant victories for people of color at the ceremony.

Joaquin Phoenix was the favorite and won “Best Actor in a Drama” for his stunning performance in “Joker.” Renee Zellweger took home the award for “Best Actress-Drama” for her role as the late Hollywood legend Judy Garland, beating out Cynthia Erivo’s performance in “Harriet.”

Beyoncé made a grand entrance opting to skip the red carpet in a custom Schiaparelli gown, accompanied by Jay-Z, but didn’t take home any hardware for her “Lion King” track “Spirit” which was nominated for “Best Original Song,” instead Elton John accepted the award for his song “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” in the musical based on his life, “Rocketman.”

Comedy legend Eddie Murphy’s performance in “Dolemite was My Name” was shut out in the “Best Actor in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy,” as Taron Egerton won for his role in “Rocketman.”

Jennifer Lopez’s critically acclaimed performance in “Hustlers” didn’t bring in the “Best Supporting Actress in a Supporting Role” award, but Laura Dern won for her role in “Marriage Story.”

Despite the dynamic performances by black actors and filmmakers, movies like “Us,” “When They See Us,” and “Queen & Slim” were left out. Overall, Golden Globes lacked some serious diversity in both the acting and technical categories, regarding both race and gender. Female directors had a great year, but films by Ava DuVernay and Melina Matsoukas were overlooked entirely. In fact, host Ricky Gervais opened up about the lack of women directors nominated by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association during the show.

“No female directors were nominated this year,” Gervais said. “That’s bad. I’ve had a word with the HFPA, and they have guaranteed this will never happen again. Working with all the major studios, [the HFPA has] agreed to go back to the way things were when they didn’t hire women directors. That will solve the problem. You’re welcome.”

According to reports, Hollywood usually uses the Golden Globes to predict the contenders for the Academy Awards nominations, which will be announced Monday, January 13th, but let’s hope academy members offer more variety this year.