The Golden Globes, Muted — Black Is Back

A night of black dresses, overstyled men, and glamour that still cuts through.

If we wanted earnest political op-eds from people who fly private to tell us how to live, we’d turn the sound back on.

Ricky Gervais warned them years ago: “You’re in no position to lecture the public about anything.” He wasn’t there this time, and Nikki Glaser’s jokes about Leonardo DiCaprio’s dating history landed less like shock and more like déjà vu. So the volume went down and the visuals took over.

Held on January 11, 2026, the 83rd Golden Globes leaned hard into spectacle. Social reaction skewed upbeat: red-carpet looks, unguarded celebrity moments, and a champagne-loose energy dominated Instagram, TikTok, and X. Viewership has stabilized in the 9–10 million range, while engagement keeps climbing—especially among Gen Z, who now consume awards shows as clips, not commandments. And despite the doom-cycle, movies are not dead: the 2025 U.S. box office finished slightly up year-on-year, and early 2026 is pacing ahead, proof that glamour and scale can still drag people off the couch.

Black is Back ( Mostly)

The red carpet skewed almost entirely monochrome. Black ruled the night. Ayo Edebiri, Mia Goth, and Jenna Ortega leaned fully into noir drama, while Teyana Taylor’s Schiaparelli delivered gallery-worthy couture with conviction.

Not everyone got the memo. Pamela Anderson floated through in chic white, while Jennifer Lawrence, Dakota Fanning, and Tessa Thompson opted out entirely. Off the carpet, Kylie Jenner lit up feeds in a metallic gown and Lorraine Schwartz diamonds, turning quiet attendance into award-season optics mastery.  

Kyle’s beau, Timothée hit the carpet in full Chrome Hearts, clearly gunning for fashion prodigy, but the look buckled under its own hype. That diamond Cartier Panthère necklace? Gorgeous, but on him it pushed things from “mysterious French actor” to “tech bro who just discovered vintage champagne.”

Meanwhile, Michael B. Jordan and Colman Domingo proved tuxedos can still be artforms, and Selena Gomez, Charli XCX, Miley Cyrus and Julia Roberts delivered old-Hollywood glamour that kept timelines scrolling.

Timothée, Kylie & Insta chemistry

The night’s most potent pairing was fashion energy plus Insta chemistry. Timothée—sharp in all-black Chrome Hearts—walked away with award and headlines. Off the carpet, Kylie Jenner did what she does best: a custom metallic gown, obscene Lorraine Schwartz diamonds, and Instagram’s idea of “just stepped out” effortlessness. Together, they made awards season feel cute again—low drama and high glam.

Wanda, Ricky, and Stand-Up Diplomacy

Last night at the Globes, Wanda Sykes warned the absent Ricky Gervais that if he won another statuette, she’d be thanking “God and the trans community” on his behalf—atheist or not. Sure enough, Gervais took home his second Golden Globe for Best Performance in Stand-Up Comedy on Television, for Mortality (Netflix, Dec. 30). Nor God nor the trans community were needed—just brutally funny jokes and Ricky’s unshakable masterclass in roastcraft.

Forget speechifying — the wins that mattered

Once you strip out the moralizing, the actual prizes told a cleaner story.

• Best Dramatic Film: Hamnet
  Jessie Buckley further cemented her Best Actress momentum.

• Best Musical/Comedy Film: One Battle After Another
  Teyana Taylor took home both Best Director and Best Supporting Actress, confirming the film’s awards-season gravity.

• Best Actor (Musical/Comedy): Timothée Chalamet (Marty Supreme)

On the TV side, The Pitt and The Studio surfaced as top series winners, while Netflix’s Adolescence completed its crossover from algorithmic sleeper hit to awards-season staple, sweeping key acting categories

Viewership & Box Office: Glamour Still Works

Ratings may never return to pre-streaming highs, but the Globes have found a second life in the clip economy. The real audience now lives in stitched TikToks, behind-the-scenes Reels, and side-eye screenshots on X.

Viewership hovered at around 9–10 million on CBS and Paramount+, but social metrics painted a more interesting picture: year-on-year growth in shares, saves, and video completions, particularly among under-30s. At the same time, the U.S. box office crept up to roughly $8.7 billion in 2025 and is tracking ahead in early 2026. Franchises, prestige one-offs, and viral word-of-mouth still move bodies into theaters. Whether you call it denial or devotion, glamour continues to sell.

• Black owned the red carpet (with a few high-impact defectors).

• Kylie Jenner + Timothée Chalamet delivered peak awards-season optics, on and off the carpet.

• Hamnet and One Battle After Another ruled the film categories; Adolescence dominated TV.

• Social engagement is eclipsing live viewership, with Gen Z clipping, stitching, and memeing the show into relevance.

• Box office recovery continues: movies—and the ritual of watching the beautiful congratulate the beautiful—are still very much alive.