“The stupidest timeline”: Polymarket predictions airing during the Golden Globes sparked plenty of backlash
Social media users weren't happy after Polymarket predictions unexpectedly appeared on the Golden Globes on TV. But why should they have been surprised?
This year, the Golden Globes looked a little different as, for the first time in its 82-year history, it collaborated with prediction market Polymarket.
As part of this partnership, Polymarket displayed real-time probabilities about who would win various awards, both in-person at the awards and on-screen. Viewers and attendees alike were shocked at the addition.
As for how the collaboration came to be, Shayne Coplan, Founder and CEO of Polymarket, said in a press release: "The Golden Globes have long been a place where audiences debate and predict what will happen next....By pairing cultural debate with market-based probabilities, we’re giving fans a new, more interactive way to follow the show as it unfolds."
However, for many Golden Globes viewers, these "market-based probabilities" actually ruined the viewing experience — and they made their feelings clear on social media.
Social media reacts to Polymarket collaboration
"The stupidest timeline," one wrote. "Ruining every facet of society and entertainment to turn people into degenerates."
A second remarked how it's "funny Golden Globes are shilling the Polymarket in polls. Like it’s the new norm," while a third begged, "Just push me in front of a bus at this point." Quoting a Variety post promoting the partnership, a fourth simply said, "WTF is this man?"
Over on Bluesky, viewers were equally dismayed, with a viewer opining that "Polymarket and online gamblification of every aspect of our lives is the worst new development of the world in 2025."
"I don't think the Globes should endorse it"
The "gamblification" of the Golden Globes was also cited as an issue by commentary TikToker Kellie (@kellieintheknow). "I don't think everything should be gambling, but if you do want to basically gamble on the Golden Globes, I don't think the Globes should endorse it," she said in a TikTok.
"The Foreign Press Association, which is the body that votes on the Golden Globes, is already very secretive. There's very valid concern in regards to Polymarket that it basically allows insider trading, it doesn't prevent that in any way, and has almost encouraged it. But it is gambling, and a lot of countries, including France, have banned it for basically being unregulated gambling."
As she pointed out, Polymarket had only recently gained approval to return to the US after it was banned in the country in 2022. The CFTC fined it $1.4 million for operating as an unregulated prediction platform, but the case was dropped thanks to intervention from Trump in late 2025, paving the way for the platform's return.
"If you want to spend your money doing these types of things, I guess— why not?—as long as the platform is operating legally," Kellie concluded. "But I think having any type of award ceremony so clearly endorsing this behavior is only going to lead to more corruption, which we don't need more of in the United States, which I feel like the Foreign Press Association should be distancing itself from."
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