Los Angeles Times television critic Lorraine Ali penned a disapproving opinion-editorial slamming Golden Globe host Ricky Gervais for roasting Hollywood elites on Sunday evening.
According to Ali, Gervais’s roasting of A-list celebrities felt unoriginal because his searing jokes pointed at the award show’s attendees were expected, which immediately canceled any possibility that he would be the evening’s “funniest guy in the room.” She also lashed at the comic for calling on award-winners to avoid politics while Congress weighs impeachment and Iran is threatening retaliation for the death of top general Qasem Soleimani.
Ali writes: The host’s acerbic wit was nothing new. He’d certainly offended in the past from the awards stage, and ads for Sunday’s telecast played upon the idea that anything could happen, including Gervais being a jerk. His knack for ripping on Hollywood and offending the glitterati is well known among the thin-skinned in the industry.
But at the Beverly Hilton, where the three-hour-plus ceremony took place, the mood was already sober thanks to an impeachment, the threat of war with Iran and devastating bush fires in Australia.
The last thing anyone needed was for the smirking master of ceremonies to reprimand them for having hope, or taunt the room for trying to use their influence to change things for the better.
Almost immediately, however, it became clear Gervais wasn’t the funniest guy in the room at the 77th Golden Globes — and he wasn’t running the show, either.
She tosses several more complaints into the piece, saying Gervais’s putdown of political statements was “disingenuous,” he relied on a “tired agitator schtick,” and he failed to “read the room.” – READ MORE