UPDATE Jan. 6, 2025, at 3:23 p.m. PT: Variety is reporting that Golden Globes executive producer Glenn Weiss wants Nikki Glaser back to host again. “We absolutely had a great experience with her,” he said, “and think that she would be great at this in the long term.” Even though he couldn’t “talk officially,” Weiss added, “I will say, as someone who produces and directs award shows, she really found her niche here, and I think it really worked out beautifully on this show. And I would love to see it continue.” He called her a “home run” talent and that “she did her homework.”
ORIGINAL STORY Published Jan. 6, 2025, at 10:30 a.m. PT: People were still talking about one of Nikki Glaser’s jokes at the Golden Globe afterparties.
“Oh look, it’s two-time Holocaust survivor Adrien Brody,” the stand-up comedian had remarked during her 10-minute opening monologue, referring to the actor’s roles in The Pianist and The Brutalist. Because of that zinger — and countless more like it — a plurality of 2025 Golden Globes viewers gave Glaser an A grade in Gold Derby’s overnight poll. Here are the complete results:
To compare, the previous two Golden Globes hosts, Jo Koy and Jerrod Carmichael, both received Fs from our readers.
As we noted last night in our recap, “Glaser brought her exceptional roast comedy skills to the Globes’ opening monologue, delivering a tight 10-minute set featuring well-placed jabs at the state of the industry, from Ozempic’s influence to Peacock’s lack of it. She pushed the envelope just far enough … without going overboard. And she found some time to just be silly, roping in Adam Sandler to say ‘Chalamet!’ in Opera Man voice. She was supremely confident and polished and kept the show jauntily rolling along.”
Her approval rating was near-universal. Jon Stewart, a veteran Oscar host, offered a rave on X.
Nikki Glaser is very very good at this.
— Jon Stewart (@jonstewart) January 6, 2025
The Los Angeles Times said Glaser “killed,” adding “her jokes were good, her delivery tight, she earned the good time she was clearly having.” “For an awards show that has weathered years of crisis and criticism, Glaser embraced enthusiasm: She seemed really, truly excited to be there,” offered The New York Times. She “basically stole the show,” opined TVLine. “If auditioning for future Globes hosting stints is Glaser’s real goal, she checked off more than enough boxes,” declared Deadline. Wrote Variety , “Glaser’s overarching topics and several laugh-out-loud moments enabled her to reset the Globes to its former delightful glory.” And in an otherwise tepid review of the overall ceremony, the Hollywood Reporter stated, “She held the stage, played decently to a crowd that started off a little wary but warmed to her, and actually seemed like she was enjoying the opportunity.” (TV Line, Deadline, Variety, and the Hollywood Reporter are all owned by Gold Derby’s parent company, Penske Media.)
Likewise, Gold Derby’s forum posters also responded enthusiastically to Glaser’s gig. Bonehead said, “I wasn’t that excited when Nikki Glaser was announced as the host, but aside from the Harrison Ford joke, I thought she nailed the opening monologue.” Binx stated, “Nikki Glaser is doing brilliantly! I have been chuckling along. She’s like [Amy] Poehler with a [Ricky] Gervais flourish.” And prezhillz shared, “Nikki Glaser did great. Enough of her comedic style, but adapted for a broader audience with a mix of benign and biting jokes. Worthy of a repeat performance!”
SEE Golden Globes: The complete list of winners (updating)
Some of Glaser’s other monologue moments that had people chuckling included calling the Golden Globes “Ozempic’s biggest night,” telling the crowd of A-listers, “You’re all so famous and powerful, you can do anything, except tell the country who to vote for,” and realizing that TV shows The Bear, The Penguin, and Baby Reindeer are “not just things in RFK Jr.’s freezer.”
Midway through the ceremony, Glaser came out on stage wearing a Conclave pope hat and holding a Wicked witch wand for a performance of a “Popular”-spoofing song called “Pope-ular” (watch below). But she immediately stopped herself when she heard a voice in her ear telling her “this whole thing sucks” and that she’s “embarrassing [herself] in front of Elton John.”
Nikki Glaser just interrupted her own musical number by saying “wait, this sucks?!” after trying to mash up Wicked and Conclave lol
“You…will…be…Pope-ular…I’m embarrassing myself in front of Elton John?!” pic.twitter.com/lAnRKFU5Zd
— Spencer Althouse (@SpencerAlthouse) January 6, 2025
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Later, Glaser checked in with the “Globes Leaders” scorecard up to that point — those who received the most shout-outs from winners during their acceptance speeches (watch below). “Cast & Crew” led the way with 11, compared to “Moms” with three, and “Mario Lopez” with one. They all fared better than “God, creator of the universe” with zero mentions, she deadpanned.
Nikki Glaser just went over how many shoutouts people got during acceptance speeches LOL
“god, creator of the universe, with zero mentions…and Mario Lopez, host of Access Hollywood, one”#GoldenGlobes pic.twitter.com/ayTXovPggQ
— Spencer Althouse (@SpencerAlthouse) January 6, 2025
As Glaser told Gold Derby earlier this week, she had been testing out her material in local Los Angeles comedy clubs in order to gauge a real audience’s reactions. That just goes to show that practice really does makes perfect. In addition, one of her main goals after seeing Koy falter last year was to “tell [the audience] who I am right out of the gate so they kind of know the context of why I’m here.”
Do you think Glaser should become the next Golden Globe return host, after five-timer Ricky Gervais (2010-12, 2016, 2020) and four-timers Tina Fey and Amy Poehler (2013-15, 2021). Sound off in the comments section.
Note: Golden Globes producer Dick Clark Productions is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a joint venture between Eldridge and Penske Media Corporation, which owns Gold Derby.
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