Nothing and nobody were spared during Nikki Glaser’s opening monologue at the 2026 Golden Globes — not the A-list crowd, and certainly not CBS, the ceremony’s broadcaster.
Returning Sunday to host the 83rd annual Globes for the second consecutive year, the stand-up, 41, opened the show with a fiery, no-holds-barred monologue.
“Good evening, and welcome to the Golden Globes. Yes, the Golden Globes, without a doubt the most important thing that’s happening in the world right now,” Glaser began.
Directing her attention to the high-profile crowd, which included stars like Leonardo DiCaprio and Julia Roberts, the comedian admitted that she couldn’t believe “the amount of star power we have in this room tonight.”
“It’s insane. There’s so many A-lsters. And by A lists, I do mean people who are on,” she continued, before delivering the Jeffrey Epstein-veiled punchline, “A lists that have been heavily redacted.”
“Yes, and the Golden Globe for best editing goes to the Justice Department,” she quipped, in a nod to the heavily redacted Epstein files that the DOJ has released.
Going on to take direct aim at CBS, she added, “And the Golden Globe for most editing goes to CBS News,” refering to its ongoing controversy, surrounding claims that its new editor-in-chief Bari Weiss withheld a recent 60 Minutes segment that was reportedly critical of Donald Trump’s policies. Just last month, Weiss pulled a 60 Minutes report about the alleged abuses in an El Salvador prison for deported migrants, citing a “lack sufficient context.”
“CBS News, America’s newest place to see B.S. news,” Glaser said. “We need another.”
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Sunday’s ceremony honored the best in film and television from the past year, with Paul Thomas Anderson’s Leonardo DiCaprio-starring dark comedy One Battle After Another leading the film nominees and HBO Max’s wealth satire The White Lotus hoping to dominate in the TV categories.
It marked Glaser’s second time hosting the Globes. She made history last year as the first woman to host the award show solo. Her debut was widely well-received by viewers and critics alike, with nearly all of her jokes landing successfully. The only one to fall flat was a quip about Zendaya’s throuple drama, Challengers, being more “sexually charged than [disgraced rapper and music mogul] Diddy’s credit card.”
Still, her set managed to remain a major hit of the evening, with Golden Globes executive producer Glenn Weiss telling Variety at the time: “We absolutely had a great experience with her, and think that she would be great at this in the long term.”