Nikki Glazer teased the A-list crowd during her opening monologue at the 2026 Golden Globes Sunday.
Glazer’s boldest joke involved the late Jeffrey Epstein’s connections to the celebrity world.
“I can’t believe the amount of star power in this room tonight. It’s incredible,” she began. “There are so many A-listers…and by ‘A-listers’ I mean people who are on heavily edited lists,” she quipped.
“Yes, the Golden Globe Award for Best Editing goes to…the Department of Justice. Yes, congratulations,” Glaser said to the roaring crowd.
The 41-year-old comedian continued his joke by criticizing CBS, even though it airs the awards show, adding, “And the award for Best Editing goes to CBS News, yes, CBS News, the place to get the latest BS news in America. There had to be another place.”
The quip comes after CBS News has made programming changes and decisions in recent weeks.
She then criticized Leonardo DiCaprio and his history of dating younger women.
“You’ve worked with all the great directors. You’ve won three Golden Globes and one Oscar. The most impressive thing is that you were able to accomplish all this before your girlfriend turned 30. It’s truly incredible,” DiCaprio told the 51-year-old.
DiCaprio took the joke seriously and drew laughter from the audience.
She also got some laughs with a Wicked joke, saying, “‘Wicked: For Good’ is back for ‘Wicked for Money.'”
“Once again, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande give us two career-defining performances,” she added. “Two hours into the movie, I was overcome with emotion and burst into tears. ‘I can’t believe there’s 45 minutes left!'”
The comedian also took aim at Timothée Chalamet, saying of his role in Marty Supreme: “Timothée Chalamet is the first actor in history to have to put on muscle for a movie about table tennis. He gained over 60 ounces. That’s insane.”
Glaser returned as host of this year’s Golden Globes after a successful stint as host last year. Glazer’s jokes to the star-studded audience drew many laughs at the time, including jabs at Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco.
“She’s here tonight with her new fiancé, Benny Blanco,” Glazer said of Gomez. Gomez later married Blanco in September.
Then she said, “Benny Blanco is here because of the genie who granted his wish. Well, you’re a lucky man.”
Glazer later revealed an “insane” joke about Ben Affleck that was ultimately cut.
“(I almost said), ‘Are you going to roast it or are you going to toast it? You know what? I’m not roasting it. I’m toasting it,'” she said during an appearance on SiriusXM’s “The Howard Stern Show” last January.
“So I did the whole Cheers thing, like, ‘This is Ben Affleck. I can’t wait to see which Jennifer he tries to mess with next,'” she continued, referencing Affleck’s ex-wives, Jennifer Garner and Jennifer Lopez.
Glazer also claims that she was paid less than previous male hosts, and likely negotiated for more pay the second time around.
“I’m making a pretty good salary and I’m happy with it,” she told Stern. “Past hosts said in their monologues how much they were paid, but mine was less than that, but that’s okay. Next year I’ll get more.”
“This first year, when I was just trying to prove myself, I honestly would have done it for free,” she added. “This is an insane platform. For me, it’s not about the money.”
Glazer will be the first woman to host the Golden Globe Awards alone.
“Hosting this year’s Golden Globe Awards was without a doubt the most fun of my career,” she said in a statement after the show’s producers, Dick Clark Productions, announced that she would return as host for the 2026 ceremony.
“I can’t wait to do it again, this time in front of the team at The White Lotus. They will finally recognize my talent and cast me in Season 4 as a Scandinavian Pilates instructor with a dark past.”
