Judd Apatow, while presenting the Best Director award at the Golden Globes, revealed that he had been “quietly boycotting” the ceremony for 10 years, ever since he won Best Comedy Film in 2016.
“I’m very surprised to be here because I’ve been boycotting the ceremony for about 10 years. It’s been a very quiet boycott and no one seems to have noticed,” Apatow quipped. “We’ve had beef ever since my movie ‘Trainwreck’ lost Best Comedy to Ridley Scott’s ‘The Martian.’
As the audience burst into laughter, Apatow dug deeper, saying: “You know Ridley Scott, America’s favorite comedy director. He’s the director of hilarious comedies like ‘Gladiator,’ ‘Blade Runner,’ and ‘Alien.'”
“I can’t wait to see ‘Hamnet’ win best comedy later tonight,” he added, referring to the best nominee for a drama about William Shakespeare grieving the loss of a child.
“But that’s water under the bridge. A lot has happened since then. That was 10 years ago,” Apatow continued. “Since then, we’ve had coronavirus. I think we’re now a dictatorship. I’m still pretty focused on this ‘Martian,’ I have to be honest.”
“As an example to inspire America, I’m going to squash the beef and start healing now,” Apatow said before nominating his nominees for Best Director. He ultimately handed the award to Paul Thomas Anderson, who won for “One Battle After Another.”
The question of what qualifies as comedy and drama has been a perennial debate during Hollywood awards season. “The Bear,” for example, is a powerful depiction of the sadness and ambition of a culinary world that has competed (and triumphed) with upbeat sitcoms like “Abbott Elementary.”
Apatow has received one individual Golden Globe nomination for co-writing the original song “Walk Hard” from Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.
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