Daniel Kaluuya wins a Golden Globe — and almost can't accept due to technical difficulties
The 2021 Golden Globes didn't get started on the best note from a technical perspective, with audio difficulties almost derailing the very first acceptance speech.
Daniel Kaluuya won the Golden Globe for best supporting actor in a film for his performance as Fred Hampton in Judas and the Black Messiah. He was up against some tough competition, including Sacha Baron Cohen for The Trial of the Chicago 7 and Leslie Odom Jr. for One Night in Miami.
But after presenter Laura Dern read Kaluuya's name, the Globes cut to him, only for his audio not to be working. From there, the Golden Globes broadcast very nearly moved on without Kaluuya accepting the award at all, with Dern explaining, "As you can see, we unfortunately have a bad connection."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Fortunately, though, the issue was soon fixed, and Kaluuya was able to accept remotely after all. "Alright, we fixed it!" co-host Amy Poehler later celebrated.
Despite Kaluuya's win, Judas and the Black Messiah was one of a number of films with Black ensembles that was left out of the Golden Globes' best picture categories this year, in addition to Spike Lee's Da 5 Bloods and Regina King's One Night in Miami. The group that hands out the awards, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, faced heavy criticism for this, especially after it was recently revealed the organization doesn't have a single Black member — a fact Poehler and Tina Fey repeatedly called out in their opening monologue.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
-
What will the US economy look like in 2026?Today’s Big Question Wall Street is bullish, but uncertain
-
Alaa Abd el-Fattah: should Egyptian dissident be stripped of UK citizenship?Today's Big Question Resurfaced social media posts appear to show the democracy activist calling for the killing of Zionists and police
-
Biggest political break-ups and make-ups of 2025The Explainer From Trump and Musk to the UK and the EU, Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without a round-up of the year’s relationship drama
-
Son arrested over killing of Rob and Michele ReinerSpeed Read Nick, the 32-year-old son of Hollywood director Rob Reiner, has been booked for the murder of his parents
-
Rob Reiner, wife dead in ‘apparent homicide’speed read The Reiners, found in their Los Angeles home, ‘had injuries consistent with being stabbed’
-
Hungary’s Krasznahorkai wins Nobel for literatureSpeed Read László Krasznahorkai is the author of acclaimed novels like ‘The Melancholy of Resistance’ and ‘Satantango’
-
Primatologist Jane Goodall dies at 91Speed Read She rose to fame following her groundbreaking field research with chimpanzees
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
