The ratings are in for the 2021 Golden Globes, and it is not a pretty picture.
What are the details?
According to the Associated Press, Sunday night’s awards ceremony on NBC drew in 6.9 million viewers — an eye-popping 64% less than 2020’s Golden Globes, which pulled in 18.4 million people before the U.S. entered widespread lockdowns due to the coronavirus.
The revelation led Vanity Fair to ask, “How will the Golden Globes recover from 2021?” with Yohana Desta writing, “the hybrid event turned out to be too tough a sell for viewers.”
This year’s show was hosted by “Saturday Night Live” alums Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, and included several signature “woke” lectures from actors, which audiences have come to expect. However, many artists delivered their acceptance speeches virtually, as pandemic measures kept them from attending in person.
One grievance mentioned more than once from the stage — including by the hosts — was against the organization itself that runs the Golden Globes, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, after the Los Angeles Times revealed that the group does not have any black voting members.
Last year, the pre-lockdown event was brimming full with Hollywood and corporate elites in the audience, when British comedian Ricky Gervais famously delivered a scolding of his own to the liberal crowd, telling them:
“So, if you do win an award tonight, don’t use it as a platform to make a political speech. You’re in no position to lecture the public about anything. You know nothing about the real world. Most of you spent less time in school than Greta Thunberg. So, if you win, come up, accept your little award. Thank your agent and your god, and f*** off!”
Anything else?
Axios reported Tuesday that former President Donald Trump’s speech Sunday night at the Conservative Political Action Conference came close to matching the Golden Globes in viewers, with Trump pulling in 6.7 million people.
The AP reported that Fox News’ coverage of the former president’s speech, the first he has made since leaving office, was “by far the most-watched cable program last week.”
In his speech, Trump lambasted Republican lawmakers who voted for conviction during his second impeachment trial, telling the crowd in Florida, “Instead of attacking me and more importantly the voters of our movement, top establishment Republicans in Washington should be spending their energy in opposing [Joe] Biden, [Nancy] Pelosi, [Chuck] Schumer, and the Democrats.”