At the 2026 Golden Globes, politics stayed on the red carpet

On the red carpet of the 2026 Golden Globes, several celebrities used their garments as vehicles of protest against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency and spoke openly about their dissent against the current Trump administration.

But on the event’s actual stage, political commentary was noticeably absent compared with years past.

Popular American awards shows have long been criticized for primarily uplifting the voices of white, male, affluent creators. But, equally, the stages of these events have been used as platforms for public figures to speak out about current politics and social justice.

In 1973, Marlon Brando famously rejected his best actor Oscar statuette at the Academy Awards and sent Sacheen Littlefeather, a Native American woman, to deliver a speech on his behalf. More recently, in 2018, Seth Meyers made numerous jokes at Trump’s expense at the Golden Globes. 

This year, though, political commentary on the Golden Globes stage was kept to a few passing comments and oblique references. It’s a shift that reflects a broader trend of Hollywood’s elite seemingly turning a blind eye to the current state of affairs during Trump’s second term.

“The most important thing in the world”

To glean any kind of political statement from last night’s show, one might have needed to perform a close reading. 

Comedian Nikki Glasser opened the ceremony with a vague allusion to pretty much everything happening outside of Hollywood, calling the Golden Globes “without a doubt the most important thing happening in the world right now.”

Others followed with similarly discreet jabs, including one comment from director Judd Apatow—“I believe we’re in a dictatorship now”—neatly sandwiched within a stream of jokes.

Even when the film One Battle After Another—a satire about revolution that critiques anti-immigration groups—won multiple awards, no statement was made directly about the current administration.

Compare that tenor to 2017, when, just months after Trump was elected for his first term, one of the Golden Globes’ most viral—and impactful—moments came when Meryl Streep used her acceptance speech to publicly call out the president.

“Hollywood is crawling with outsiders and foreigners, and if we kick them all out, we’ll have nothing to watch except football and mixed martial arts—which are not the arts,” Streep said.

Her speech came years before Trump’s National Guard ever brutalized protestors in the streets, before the Department of Homeland Security separated thousands of children from their parents, before ICE agents starting showing up at schools and community centers across the country, and before agent Jonathan Ross shot and killed Minneapolis resident Renee Nicole Good just last week.

Yet, somehow, it would have looked out of place at last night’s comparatively apolitical event.

“Of course, this is for the mother”

To be fair, several celebrities did make an effort to speak up. Stars including Wanda Sykes, Natasha Lyonne, and Jean Smart wore pins reading “Be Good” as a reference to Renee Nicole Good. Others sported pins with the phrase “Ice Out.” 

In a preshow interview with Variety, Sykes explained her pin: “Of course, this is for the mother who was murdered by an ICE agent, and it’s really sad.”

Mark Ruffalo also spoke more directly, telling Entertainment Tonight: “We’ve got, literally, storm troopers running around terrorizing. And as much as I love all this, I don’t know if I can pretend like this crazy stuff isn’t happening.”

In another interview with USA Today, Ruffalo added: “[Trump is] a pedophile. He’s the worst human being. If we’re relying on this guy’s morality for the most powerful country in the world, then we’re all in a lot of trouble.”

But, notably, these comments were shared on the red carpet, to be consumed by readers at disparate news outlets—rather than on the main stage itself, to millions of viewers at home. When the evening’s stars got their moments in the limelight, they largely opted to stay quiet. 

“Am I brave, or are they cowards?”

The literal sidelining of political commentary at the 2026 Golden Globes may be disappointing to fans who want celebrities to speak out about injustices, but it’s not surprising, given Hollywood’s about-turn since Trump’s second term began.

Celebs like Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Barry Jenkins, and others who once strongly criticized the president have lately been quiet. Lawrence herself recently spoke on this change, stating in an interview with The New York Times’ The Interview podcast that “we’ve learned, election after election, celebrities do not make a difference whatsoever on who people vote for.”

But as Refinery 29 aptly observes in a recent article, that’s not entirely true. Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Kamala Harris ahead of the 2024 presidential election drove more than 400,000 people to the vote.gov site in 24 hours, it points out. And Bridgerton actress Nicola Coughlan’s advocacy for Palestine aid organizations has helped raise more than $2 million to date.

Speaking to Refinery 29 after this year’s Golden Globes show, actress and activist Jameela Jamil refuted the idea that her own advocacy is “brave.” 

“Am I brave, or are they cowards?” she said. “I think they’re being greedy and weird and disappointing. Look at the billions of eyeballs on all of us collectively—there should be no outliers of the industry who are the outspoken ones . . . out there on their own with this amount of privilege.”