I’m at The Beverly Hilton on the red carpet soaking in the madness on the red carpet of the 75th Golden Globes Awards. Honestly, I don’t know how and why I continue to be asked to cover this event. But, I am so thankful, because the organized chaos of an awards show held at a hotel (instead of a traditional theatre venue) is something you should experience at least once. What’s it like? Take a look…

Most of you already know that the red carpet was painted black in a fashion sea of protests and Oprah practically announced her presidential candidacy with her powerful speech and Time’s Up was the theme of the politically charged night. But, as you know, all of the real fun happens off camera, including Tom Hanks making sure the martinis were served on point and over $20 million of jewelry and watches were worn last night.

Hanks, the four-time Golden Globe winner, impressively played waiter for his crew, delivering a tray of martinis while winding his way through the crowd.

As always there is a no-photo rule in the International Ballroom, but the Rock arrived and everyone wanted to smell what he was cooking. Dwayne Johnson, whose sixteen-year-old daughter Simone Garcia Johnson was this year’s Golden Globes Ambassador, had a posse of followers eager to breaks the photo rule. Looking extra handsome with his salt-and-pepper goatee and super white teeth obliged all.

The Rock with his daughter, Simone Garcia Johnson, and Thor (Chris Hemsworth)

If you saw the sea of black on the red carpet you know that most of the actresses in attendance signed on to the Time’s Up initiative. Their unity hit the forefront away from the cameras after Natalie Portman announced “the all-male nominees” for best director. Kerry Washington pumped her arms and gave a high-five to Eva Longoria who was sitting right next to her. Speaking of which…

Kerry Washington vamps at the after parties while Debra Messing and Eva Longoria look on.

Yes, it was a tough night to be a guy at the 75th Golden Globes. Women were abundantly vocal about harassment and their fight for gender parity*, however men were mostly quiet. Host Seth Meyers was a noteworthy exception, acknowledging that a white man may not have been the perfect host for the movement but filling his monologue with enough self-deprecation and righteous barbs to ease any concerns – or maybe he had some smart writers. Otherwise, mum was the word for men about the subject, with their biggest statements made in the form of fashionable lapel pins.

(*) I mean multiple Academy Award nominee Michelle Williams received less than 1% of Mark Wahlberg’s paycheck for reshoots of their film All the Money in the World. Yikes!

“I want to give room to the women that don’t normally have voices to talk about their sexual assault and rape and I’m listening. They need to know that it’s not their fault and they’re not dirty and that’s my message tonight.” –Viola Davis

The Feud Continues? When Jennifer Aniston appeared onstage, all eyes were on the Friends icon. Well, all except two, it seems. Seated at a table near the stage, Angelina Jolie appeared to look down and ignore Aniston as she presented an award. Super Awkward. 

Golden Globes Gallery

Alexi Ashe with hubby Seth Meyers on the carpet.

Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer have a Help reunion.

Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel retained their throne a Hollywood’s Royal Couple.

Backstage, us writers in the press room had access to buckets of beer on ice.

Obi-Wan, er, Ewan McGregor, won for his role in Fargo.

Elisabeth Moss won for The Handmaid’s Tale while Connie Britton wore a $380 “Poverty is Sexist” sweater.

Penelope Cruz always dazzles.

Michelle Williams (right) with civil rights advocate Tarana Burke who started the #MeToo movement.

My tix to the show!

The post Eavesdropping at the 2018 Golden Globes appeared first on Media Guy Struggles.

Okay, so where am I? 


I’m at the Microsoft Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles taking in the 69th Emmy Awards and trying to get one of those drinks loaded with bitters that Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel are sharing.

No luck.

Speaking of luck…last year I waxed poetic (very much tongue-in-cheek) about flirting with the Emmy statuette and her going with a hundred or so other writers, producers, actors, and actresses. This year was different. Sometimes you get lucky a second time.

Flirt no more…

This year also saw my return to the red carpet, and honestly the two best parts of my night was watching Lena Headey and Sophie Turner (both of Game of Thrones) scarf McDonald’s fries and milk shakes on their way to the red carpet. At the end of the entertainment debauchery, it was a fantastic night for Hulu, which proved to be a late bloomer to the original scripted series game. Sunday, it became the first streaming service to win an Emmy for Best Series for The Handmaid’s Tale, leapfrogging Netflix and Amazon.

Hat’s off to the marketing folks at Hulu. Seriously, how much of the public do you think has seen The Handmaid’s Tale? Certainly the voters have (again a credit to Hulu marketers), but it goes into the category of the things that make you go “hmmmmmmmm.” Does this show have 1/100th the audience penetration of This Is Us? At the end, it was a triumph for not-widely-viewed series, led by The Handmaid’s Tale and Black Mirror (Netflix). It was also a big night for Big Little Lies and Veep which held onto the best comedy series and best lead actress in a comedy series titles. Women broke that glass ceiling through with wins for Lena Waithe and Reed Morano (you’ll have to look them up to know more, sorry. I didn’t know who they were before last night). 


Back to the red carpet…whatever you think the carpet is like, think again. Here’s a taste:

During the show, I decided to troll celebrity and celebrity-ish Twitter accounts looking for behind the scenes tidbits. I mean celebrities are people too. Right? Let’s see:

Red Carpet Gallery

Maybe because there’s no McDonald’s north of the wall…

Nice that Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman stopped their PDAs long enough for a few pictures.

Anna Chlumsky, robbed again.

Poor Justin Timberlake…

Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys of The Americans. In my world, these two would win every year.

Yeah, I don’t get this guy either.

Alec Baldwin. Genius. Pure.

Another win for Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

The new Dream Team (if you don’t know who these ladies are, watch more movies)

Just some serious eye contact with Reese Witherspoon is all…

This streak you have going is pretty, pretty, good!

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