Golden Globes organizers want Sunday’s event to be a glamorous post-strike celebration — and are praying that stars don’t get too political.
The Globes will be the first red-carpet bash since Hollywood ended its months-long crippling actors’ and writers’ strikes, and it will be the first time the event airs at 8 pm (EST) on CBS after it being mired in controversy.
But as Page Six has revealed, Hollywood has been at odds over the Israel-Hamas war — with conflicts that have spread within the top talent agencies in Tinseltown.
While stars will not be censored, we’re told, a well-placed industry source said: “Everyone is hoping that the Globes will bring glamour and fun and Hollywood back to the world. It’s truly needed.”
A-listers including Margot Robbie, Natalie Portman, Leonardo DiCaprio and Bradley Cooper are all expected at the awards, as the biggest hits of the year including “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” will do battle against Taylor Swift’s “Eras” concert film in a new box-office category.
They’ll also be joined by the biggest TV hitters from “Ted Lasso” star Jason Sudeikis to the cast of the HBO Max hit “Succession.”
Another industry source said: “Everyone is hoping it won’t get too political.”
Many actors have spoken out amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. Golden Globe nominees Bradley Cooper, Selena Gomez, Joaquin Phoenix, Quinta Brunson and Mark Ruffalo were among more than 260 artists who signed an October letter urging Joe Biden and Congress to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
Celebs have never shied away from making their opinions known at the Globes.
In 2017, Meryl Streep — who is nominated this year for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role on Television (“Only Murders in the Building”) — lashed out at Donald Trump during her acceptance speech for the Cecil B. DeMille lifetime achievement award.
The icon said she was “stunned” when Trump appeared to mock a disabled reporter, Serge F Kovaleski, at a press conference.
In response, Trump, who was then President-elect, dubbed Streep an “overrated actress” and a “Hillary flunky.”
In 2020, then-host Ricky Gervais pleaded with the crowd not to make lengthy political speeches.
“You know nothing about the real world,” he said. “Most of you spent less time in school than Greta Thunberg.”
However, the British comic was ignored.
The ceremony was heavily political, touching on the escalating situation with the US and Iran, while Michelle Williams spoke out about abortion rights. There were also mentions of the 2020 election.
This year could prove to be no different amid soaring tensions.
As Page Six reported, Oscar winner Susan Sarandon was dumped by UTA for her inflammatory comments last month when she said that Jews are getting a “taste of what it feels like to be a Muslim in this country”
Top CAA agent Maha Dakhil, a representative for Tom Cruise and Madonna, stepped down from her leadership role after coming under fire for calling the Israel-Hamas war a “genocide” on social media.
Dakhil, who was spotted at the Academy of Motion Pictures annual gala last month, has since been on a “listening tour,” meeting with Hollywood rabbi, Steve Leder of Wilshire Boulevard Temple as well as Jonathan Greenblatt, the chief executive of the Anti Defamation League.
A company source told us: “Maha has divided CAA — there are some Jewish agents who feel very strongly that she should learn from what she did and that she should definitely be sanctioned, if not sacked.
“But there was also a feeling that CAA had to be careful because they could face rebellion from staff who thought that Maha was being muzzled from expressing her own opinions.”
Comic Jo Koy will host the Globes, which will air on CBS Sunday night for the first time after NBC severed ties with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.