28 Golden Globes Moments From Past Years That Got The Whole World Talking

It might not feel like it given we’re only about halfway through our Christmas chocolate and still finding stray bits of fake snow from the recently-put-away tree, but awards season is actually already underway for 2026.

Unusually, this year’s awards season kicked off with the Critics’ Choice Awards, with the Golden Globes – which traditionally is the first ceremony to take place – now scheduled for this coming weekend.

While most of the ceremonies in awards show only recognise achievement in cinema, the Golden Globes also gives out prizes to the TV industry – meaning there are twice as many A-listers in attendance, and therefore twice as many opportunities to make headlines for one reason or another.

From show-stopping red carpet fashion and unscheduled blunders to celebrity feuds and even political statements, here are 28 Golden Globes that really got people talking…

1. Madonna and Sir Elton John’s feud went up about 10 notches when they were nominated for the same award at the Golden Globes – and Sir Elton’s face was a picture when Madonna beat him

2. Sandra Oh’s monologue in 2019 sparked an impromptu ‘I’m sorry!’ from Emma Stone for the white-washed movie Aloha…

3 …and an altogether different outburst from Lady Gaga after poking fun at her ‘there could be 100 people in a room…’ quote

4. Speaking of Lady Gaga, who could forget the moment she gave Leonardo DiCaprio a scare while getting up to accept her award for American Horror Story back in 2016?

5. Similarly, Jason Momoa caught Sir Brian Cox off guard with his very casual attire during 2020’s ceremony (he’d given his jacket to his then-wife Lisa Bonet to wear, in his defence)

6. Dame Emma Thompson had a few things to get off her chest – and, more pressingly, her feet – in 2014, while presenting an award for screenwriting

7. Renée Zellweger almost missed her award completely in 2001, after nipping to the bathroom to try and get lipstick off her teeth

8. In the wake of the Time’s Up movement, 2018’s ceremony began with everyone wearing black in solidarity with the victims of systemic harassment and abuse, while many A-list guests attended with prolific activists as their dates

9. The Golden Globes faced a full-blown boycott in 2022, when it emerged that its corresponding committee included no Black members. After that year’s event was not broadcast, and featured no celebrity guests, the organisation underwent some reforms, and 2023’s ceremony began with a monologue from host Jerrod Carmichael in which he certainly didn’t shy away from the controversy

10. This was also the year in which Brendan Fraser vowed not to attend the Golden Globes even if he was nominated as he didn’t want to be perceived as a ‘hypocrite’, having accused the former head of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, Philip Berk, of sexually assaulting him 20 years earlier (he was nominated that year, but lost out to Austin Butler for Elvis)

11. While presenting the Best Director prize in 2018, Natalie Portman couldn’t help but point out the lack of female representation in the category

12. In 2017, Meryl Streep received the coveted Cecil B Demille award, and used her acceptance speech to speak out against the then-newly-elected Donald Trump

13. While accepting the same prestigious award in 2013, Jodie Foster came out publicly on stage, pointing out she’d already done so privately ‘about a thousand years ago’

14. The late, great Elizabeth Taylor had a bit of difficulty grasping the concept of announcing the nominees when she was brought in to present one of the night’s top awards back in 2001

15. On the red carpet back in 2024, Gillian Anderson raised eyebrows with this vulva-patterned dress

16. A year earlier, the Golden Globes red carpet was the site of this iconic flirtation between Andrew Garfield and Amelia Dimoldenberg

17. The true scene-stealer of the Golden Globes red carpet, though, has to be the legend who came to be known as ‘Fiji water woman’, who made her way into the background of several photos – much to the chagrin of Jamie Lee Curtis – back in 2019

18. Following John Legend’s victory in 2015, his wife Chrissy Teigen became a meme within minutes when the camera cut to what she later insisted was just her regular ‘crying face’

19. In 2016, organisers found out why you never rush an icon when they tried to hurry up Taraji P Henson during her acceptance speech…

20 …and there was a similar scene in 2023, when Michelle Yeoh triumphed for her performance in Everything Everywhere All At Once

21. That same year, Austin Butler’s acceptance speech raised eyebrows for a very different reason, when viewers noticed that he still seemed to be channelling Elvis Presley’s speaking voice

22. Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez sparked plenty of gossip – and an endless stream of memes – when they were pictured whispering to one another at the ceremony in 2024

23. The Golden Globes is also where Timothée Chalamet and Kylie Jenner caused quite a stir with their amorous display during an early public appearance together

24. And if we’re talking about Timothée Chalamet and the Golden Globes, we have to mention these epic jibes from Nikki Glaser during what turned out to be a career-changing opening monologue for her in 2025

25. Last year, Zendaya also soft-launched her engagement – and a new tattoo in honour of fiancé Tom Holland – on the Golden Globes red carpet

26. Ricky Gervais has hosted the Golden Globes several times, and always caused plenty of drama with his no-holds-barred approach. A prime example of that would be when introducing Mel Gibson to the stage in 2016

27. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler found themselves on the wrong side of Taylor Swift with one particular jibe, infamously prompting the singer to claim there was a ‘special place in hell for women who don’t help other women’

28. Swift-related drama aside, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler widely became considered the awards show hosts of dreams with their incredible Golden Globes presenting stints over the years

The 2026 Golden Globes will take place in Los Angeles, California on Sunday 11 January.