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Golden Globes hosts tackle tough topics with humour


Los Angeles — Leave it to Tina Fey and Amy Poehler to turn some of Hollywood's sorest subjects into punch lines.

At Sunday's Golden Globe Awards, the comedians turned serious stories such as the hacking of Sony Pictures and sexual abuse allegations against Bill Cosby into jokes. The hostesses used their affable style and breezy comedic timing to address the topics in the opening moments of an awards show known for its boozy outbursts.

"Tonight we celebrate all the great television shows that we know and love as well as all the movies that North Korea was OK with," Fey quipped in reference to the Sony hack that U.S. authorities have attributed to North Korea. The hacking led to the release of a wealth of private information about the studio and scuttled the wide release of the Seth Rogen and James Franco film, The Interview.

Fey also jabbed the film, which North Korea said it considered an act of war, by saying that was "not the worst review the film got" either.

Fey and Poehler kept up the jabs at the reclusive nation later on during the festivities, introducing a stern-looking woman dressed in military regalia who they said was the newest member of the group that awards the Globes, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

The woman clutched a copy of a magazine bearing an image of North Korea leader Kim Jong Un and snapped a photo with Meryl Streep.


"We got a lot of weird emails that can't get out," the women jokingly told Streep, to get her to pose for the photo.

Allegations that Cosby drugged and sexually abused several women weren't off limits.

Poehler turned the traditional introduction of notable films that is standard in many awards shows as an opportunity to jab Cosby, who is accused of drugging and raping more than 15 women. Cosby has denied many of the claims, but has also joked about the allegations during a recent show in Canada.

"In Into the Woods, Cinderella runs from her prince, Rapunzel is thrown from her tower for her prince and Sleeping Beauty just thought that she was getting coffee with Bill Cosby," Poehler said during the Globes' introduction.

On the red carpet, stars expressed solidarity with the victims of the Paris terror attack that targeted the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo.

George Clooney, the recipient of the Cecil B. DeMille Award, wore a "Je Suis Charlie" pin, while Helen Mirren held up a sign with the same slogan on it.




(AP Photos)

One story involving Hollywood's elite that remained off limits through the show's first hour — the posting online of nude images of numerous female stars, including Oscar-winner Jennifer Lawrence.

A few of the stars may have been on edge when Ricky Gervais — a three-time Globes host who skewers both the show and Hollywood's elite — took the stage to present an award.

Gervais behaved... for the most part.

"I'm not going to start picking on things you've done," he told his fellow actors. "Some of it immoral. A lot of it illegal. If we've learned one thing, it's that famous people are above the law. As it should be."


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