A Few Artists of Color Won at Golden Globes, But There’s Still a Lot of Work to Do

By Sameer Rao Jan 07, 2019

Co-host and "Killing Eve" star Sandra Oh set the 2019 Golden Globe Awards off last night (January 6) by honoring the momentum that brought artist of color-led projects like "Black Panther," "Crazy Rich Asians," "If Beale Street Could Talk" and "Pose" to the first awards show of the season. "Next year could be different, it probably will be, but right now, this moment is real," the first Asian woman to host a major U.S. awards show said during her opening remarks alongside co-host Andy Samberg ("Brooklyn Nine-Nine").

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rntHere are the stand-out moments from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association‘s ceremony:

"Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" co-director Peter Ramsey talked about the importance of Miles Morales, Marvel’s first Afro-Latinx Spider-Man, during his speech for the box office hit‘s Best Motion Picture-Animated award. 

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rnt“If Beale Street Could Talk” star Regina King concluded her Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture speech by pledging gender-equitable hiring on her future screen projects.

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rntOh broke from her co-hosting duties and paid tribute to her Korean parents in their native language while accepting Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series-Drama for “Killing Eve." She set another Golden Globes benchmark as the first Asian woman to earn this award. 

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rntMahershala Ali won the Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture statue for his portrayal of Jamaican-American pianist Dr. Donald Shirley in "Green Book." The film also won Best Motion Picture-Musical or Comedy and Best Screenplay-Motion Picture despite the Shirley family’s critiques about its veracity, which Ali addressed in comments to Shadow and Act and previously apologized to the famiy for:

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I respect Dr. Shirley and his family and wish them well. I have a job to do and I have to continue to do my job as I move on to my next project and treat everyone I work with, with respect. In this case, I didn’t know that they were around. And I’ve made contact and spoken to the studio and everyone and I have to move on at this point, but I do wish them well.


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rntMexican director Alfonso Cuarón‘s "Roma," which largely focuses on a domestic worker portrayed by Indigenous Mexican actress Yalitza Aparicio, won for Best Motion Picture-Foreign Language. Cuarón also won Best Director-Motion Picture for the black-and-white historical drama. The movie received support from the National Domestic Workers Alliance for its depiction of the protagonist.

rnt“The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story" star Darren Criss recognized his Filipina mother while accepting his Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television award. 

rntEgyptian-American actor Rami Malek‘s depiction of Queen’s frontman Freddie Mercury in "Bohemian Rhapsody" earned him Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture-Drama. The film closed the night by winning the award for Best Motion Picture-Drama.

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But the Golden Globes also faced criticism for the honors it did not award last night. Several artist of color-led projects like "Pose," "Black Panther," "Crazy Rich Asians" and "BlacKkKlansman" scored no wins. 

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rntSeveral commentators also echoed previous critiques about the cinematic winners, "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "Green Book," failing to accurately represent the communites at the center of their stories.

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rntSee the full list of winners and nominees at GoldenGlobes.com.