With A-list attendees, shocking wins and a history-making host, the 82nd Golden Globes set the tone for an exciting 2025 awards season. This year’s ceremony, which aired on Sunday evening on CBS, drew in over 9 million viewers despite competing with NBC’s Sunday Night Football. After a year packed with compelling releases, here’s a recap of this year’s Golden Globes – and what to expect from the rest of the 2025 awards season.
Host History
After last year’s Golden Globes, host Jo Koy received backlash for what viewers felt were sexist and demeaning jokes. This year, audiences were ready for something different – and comedian Nikki Glaser delivered. A first-time Golden Globes nominee, Glaser charmed viewers with her smart comedy, effortlessly executing jokes on the rise of Ozempic, the Diddy lawsuits and the recent election. Her best moment of the night? A tease of a Wicked and Conclave-inspired rendition of “Popular” (called “Pope-ular”).
Though she didn’t take home the award for Best Performance in Stand-Up Comedy on Television, Glaser made Golden Globes history as the first woman to host the award show solo.
International Projects Win Big
This year’s Golden Globes saw international projects take home awards in several major categories. French director Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Pérez was the most decorated film of the evening, receiving four awards including Best Musical or Comedy Motion Picture. Zoe Saldaña won Best Supporting Female Actor in a Motion Picture for her role in the film, her first Golden Globe win.
After shattering records at the 2024 Emmys, Shōgun continued its winning streak. Though an American production, the series features an acclaimed Japanese cast, including Hiroyuki Sanada and Anna Sawai, who each took home awards for their performance in the FX original. Shōgun was also the winningest television project of the evening, earning four total awards including Best Drama Series.
English director and actor Richard Gadd won Best Limited Series for Baby Reindeer, the semi-autobiographical story of his stalker experience. Gadd’s co-star Jessica Gunning also took home the award for Best Supporting Female Actor in television, adding to the series’ laundry list of accolades.
A Celebrated Comeback
After making her film debut over 45 years ago, Demi Moore won her first Golden Globe at Sunday night’s show. Moore snagged the award for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Musial or Comedy Motion Picture for her role as Elisabeth Sparkle in the highly-lauded horror film, The Substance. The win marked a major first for Moore, who had never previously won an acting award. In her acceptance speech, Moore confessed the self-doubt she struggled with throughout her career. “Thirty years ago I had a producer tell me that I was a ‘popcorn actress,’” she confessed, “…and that corroded me over time to the point that I thought a few years ago that maybe this was it.” Now, the 62-year-old is experiencing a career high and seems to be headed for an Oscars nomination.
Surprise Snubs
While the evening marked major wins for some, there were several projected winners that left Sunday’s ceremony empty-handed. Sean Baker’s dramedy Anora, for example, was nominated in five categories but left winless. This was particularly shocking after the film received the Palme d’Or, the highest honor given to projects at the Cannes Film Festival, in May of last year. The film’s star Mikey Madison was also favored to win Best Actress, though she was ultimately beat out by Moore.
Viewers were also surprised by the lack of wins for Jon M. Chu’s blockbuster hit Wicked. The end of 2024 saw Wicked dominate pop culture and the box office, earning $634.4 million and becoming the highest-grossing film adaptation of a Broadway show. Though it seemed that Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo were poised to take home Golden Globes for their stellar performances, the film’s only award of the evening was for Cinematic and Box Office Achievement.
Angelina Jolie was also highly favored to take home the award for Best Female Actor in a Drama Motion Picture for her portrayal of Maria Callas in Netflix’s Maria, but was beat out in a surprise win by Brazilian actress Fernanda Torres for I’m Still Here. The political biographical drama sees Torres as Eunice Paiva, wife of politician and activist Rubens Paiva, who must navigate life after her husband’s disappearance. The upset has placed Jolie’s fast-track to an Oscars nomination into question.
What’s Next?
While the nominees for each awards show are determined by separate voting bodies, the Golden Globes can help actors and directors attract the Academy’s attention before Oscars nominations. “Winning a Globe is all about momentum and being perceived as a winner, or at least a competitor to be taken seriously,” writes the BBC’s Caryn James. For actors like Moore and Torres, that means their recent wins could help their chances of nabbing an Oscars nomination. Similarly, a film like Emilia Pérez could now have better leverage for future nominations despite not being an initial contender.
Though we can’t predict who will score Oscar noms, we won’t have to wait too long for the Academy’s shortlist: The 2025 Oscar nominations will be announced on January 17, with the ceremony taking place on March 2. In the meantime, the BAFTA Awards on February 16 and the SAG Awards on February 23 will also clue us in to who the major players will be in this year’s award cycle.
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