Sunday night’s presentation of the Golden Globes could’ve been nicknamed the Black Barrier Awards.
The 82nd Golden Globe Awards—broadcast live from the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California—had a near-shutout of Black nominees, with only one Black person winning at the show: Dominican American actress Zoe Saldaña (who identifies as Afro-Latina) from Netflix’s Spanish-language movie musical “Emilia Pérez.” Saldaña won the prize for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture.
It was one of four Golden Globe Awards that “Emilia Pérez” won out of 10 nominations. The film, written and directed by French filmmaker Jacques Audiard, also received prizes for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy; Best Motion Picture – Non-English Language; and Best Original Song, for “El Mal,” which Saldaña performs in the movie. The prize for Best Original Song goes to the writers: Audiard, Camille Dalmais, and Clément Ducol, who are all white.
In “Emilia Pérez,” Saldaña portrays Rita Mora Castro, a Mexico-based attorney for a drug-trafficking boss named Juan “Manitas” Del Monte (played by Karla Sofía Gascón), who starts a new life as a transgender woman named Emilia Pérez (also played by Gascón) and who gives up a life of crime to become a philanthropist. “Emilia Pérez” co-stars Saldaña, Gascon, Selena Gomez, and Adriana Paz shared the prize for Best Actress at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, where the movie had its world premiere.
Comedian/actress Nikki Glaser hosted the 2025 show, telecast in the United States on CBS and streamed live on Paramount+ With Showtime.
Many of the Golden Globe categories this year had no Black nominees, such as:
- Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama
- Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
- Best Director
- Best Screenplay
- Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Series – Drama
- Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy
- Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Limited Series, Anthology Series, or a Motion Picture Made for Television
- Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Limited Series, Anthology Series, or a Motion Picture Made for Television
- Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role on Television
The Black nominees snubbed at the Golden Globes were Denzel Washington for Paramount Pictures’ “Gladiator II,” Cyntha Erivo for Universal Pictures’ “Wicked,” Zendaya for Amazon MGM Studios’ “Challengers,” Colman Domingo for A24’s “Sing Sing,” Quinta Brunson of ABC’s “Abbott Elementary,” Donald Glover of Prime Video’s “Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” Kali Reis (who identifies as Afro-Indigenous) of HBO’s “True Detective: Night Country,” Jamie Foxx of Netflix’s “Jamie Foxx: What Had Happened Was,” music composer Kris Bowers of DreamWorks Animation/Universal Pictures’ “The Wild Robot,” and “The Bear” co-stars Liza Colón-Zayas and Edebiri.
Orion Pictures’ “Nickel Boys” was the only Black-oriented movie to get a nod in the categories given to motion pictures—not categories for actors and actresses. “Nickel Boys” was nominated for Best Motion Picture – Drama, which was the movie’s only Golden Globe nomination.
Meanwhile, other critically acclaimed Black-oriented movies released in 2024—such as Netflix’s “The Piano Lesson,” Bleecker Street’s “Hard Truths,” and Roadside Attractions’ “Exhibiting Forgiveness”—received no nominations, even though these movies have been nominated at other awards shows. Award-winning Black-oriented TV series that were snubbed for Golden Globe nominations included Peacock’s “Bel-Air,” Hulu’s “UnPrisoned” (which was canceled in 2024 but was eligible for Golden Globe nominations), and National Geographic’s “Genius: MLK/X.”
A troubled past
It’s no secret that the Golden Globe Awards have a problematic history when it comes to how Black artists are treated. The Golden Globe Awards were originally launched by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), a group of journalists representing media outlets based outside the United States. In February 2021, The Los Angeles Times revealed that the HFPA did not have any Black members for about 20 years, and HFPA members received money and gifts under circumstances with questionable ethics. Industry-wide boycotts of the Golden Globe Awards soon followed, with NBC dropping the show in 2022.
After the HFPA invited more Black people and other people of color into its voting group and revised its ethics policies, NBC brought back the Golden Globe Awards in January 2023, but opted not to renew its contract with the show beyond that year.
Comedian/actor Jerrod Carmichael was the first Black person to host the Golden Globe Awards, when he emceed the ceremony in 2023. In his opening monologue, Carmichael ripped into the HFPA for its history of racism and implied he was hired to host so the HPFA could repair its image. “I’m here because I’m Black,” Carmichael said. “I won’t say they’re a racist organization, but they didn’t have a single Black member until George Floyd died, so do with that information what you will.”
In June 2023, Dick Clark Productions and investment firm Eldridge Industries bought the Golden Globe Awards from the HFPA, which disbanded as a result of the sale. CBS returned to broadcasting the awards last year after televising them in 1981 and 1982.
The voters for the Golden Globe Awards are still international journalists (several are former HFPA members), but there are many more Golden Globe voters today than in previous years. At the time that the HFPA owned the Golden Globe Awards in 2023, there were 193 voters, of which 7.7% were Black. According to Dick Clark Productions, the 2025 Golden Globe Awards had 334 voters, of which 11% are Black—a statistic that remains largely unchanged from 2024.
Representatives for the Golden Globe Awards did not respond to a request for comment for this piece.
Black presenters at the 2025 Golden Globe Awards were Morris Chestnut, Viola Davis, Ariana DeBose, “Sing Sing” star Domingo, Dwayne Johnson, Zoë Kravitz, Anthony Mackie, and Kerry Washington. Davis received the Cecil B. DeMille Award (the Golden Globes’ movie lifetime achievement prize), which was presented at a non-televised gala at the Beverly Hilton on Friday.
A complete list of Golden Globe winners can be found on the show’s official website.
