The Golden Globes, Growing Up, and Wanting the Glamour Back

There was a time when award shows felt like an event. Joan Rivers and Melissa Rivers, Fashion Police, all the commentary was sharp, funny, dramatic, sometimes ridiculous, and yes, shallow. But it was also playful, there was a wink to it, a sense that we were all in on the fun. When I was a kid and in college I used to love watching the red carpet arrivals to the award shows and then watching the award shows.

The gowns, the risks, the hits, the misses. It felt like escapism when i was in high school and college studying for midterms. Honestly, at the time it felt harmless.

Somewhere along the way, that tone changed. I don’t know if it was I changed and grew up, or I moved to LA and witness the hounding of the papparazi, or bloggers started and a guy name Perez Hilton came onto the scene and it gave way for people to be more mean and critical. What used to feel playful started to feel cruel, what used to be commentary became judgment. Bodies were scrutinized, aging was dissected.

Women, especially, were reduced to what they wore and how they looked doing it. And then, rightfully so, there was a pushback. Actresses spoke up, they wanted to be taken seriously, they wanted to talk about their work, not just their dress and who they were wearing. They wanted depth, respect, and substance. I evolved too and I agreed with that. I didn’t want women picked apart for existing in their bodies, I didn’t want fashion commentary to come at the expense of someone’s humanity. I understood why it felt wrong, but here’s the honest part, lately, I’ve found myself missing it. Not the judgment or cruelty parts of it, but the simplicity, the glamour of it, the fantasy, the glitz.

( Cue Puttin’ on the Ritz)

If you’re blue and you don’t know where to go to
Why don’t you go where fashion sits?
Puttin’ on the Ritz
Different types who wear a day coat
Pants with stripes and cutaway coat, perfect fits
Puttin’ on the Ritz

Dressed up like a million-dollar trouper
Trying hard to look like Gary Cooper (Super-duper)
Come, let’s mix where Rockefellers
Walk with sticks or umbrellas in their mitts
Puttin’ on the Ritz

The feeling of sitting on the couch, glass of something in hand, watching beautiful, ridiculous, over-the-top moments unfold. My mother in law and I used to watch these and text each other about their outfits, she has since passed away but she always loved the Hollywood glamour too. Now my daughters are into the award shows.

We live in a time where everything is analyzed. Every outfit is a think piece, every reaction is scrutinized, yes depth matters, yes progress matters, respect matters. And also… sometimes people just want to enjoy things and have mindless fun.

I don’t think it’s regressive to want a little sparkle back. I don’t think it means I have forgotten the work that matters. It means I’m tired and just want to watch something, laugh and smile.

Why the Golden Globes Still Feel Different

The Golden Globes have always been a little looser. A little messier, a little more unpredictable. They’re not the Oscars and they don’t pretend to be. Maybe that’s why they still hold this strange charm.

This year feels especially nostalgic for me, there is a brand new category! The Best Podcast!!!

I went to the Grammy’s one year when I lived in LA. It was the Grammy’s that Elton John and Eminem preformed together. I loved getting all dressed up and getting my make up and hair done.

I want to remember that fun and substance don’t have to cancel each other out. I want to show my daughters that too. There is a time for seriousness and a time for fun. We can celebrate great performances, we can honor meaningful work, and we can still talk about the dresses and fashion.

Maybe This Is the Middle Ground

Maybe growing up isn’t about rejecting what we loved, maybe it’s about holding it differently. I don’t want the old judgment back, I don’t want women reduced to punchlines, but I also don’t want to pretend that glamour and fun are shallow or meaningless. I started to have a really hard time being very spiritual and still liking fashion and designer things. I started to think it was too shallow and superficial. In 2025 I started to come back around and let myself be that girl again that can be a so called crunchie yogi who does like designer brands, fashion, and pop culture. I don’t think it makes me shallow or superficial.

Sometimes beauty is just beauty, fashion is just expression, sometimes watching rich people in couture on a red carpet is just escapism, and maybe that’s okay. We all need a guilty pleasure from time to time to decompress.

We’re allowed to evolve, we’re allowed to miss things, and we’re allowed to enjoy them again in a new way.

Golden Globes 2026 Notes & Highlights

Best Moments:

– Amy Poehler takes home first-ever Best Podcast Award

– Julia Roberts gets standing ovation

-Judd Apatow was on hand to present the award for Best Director and used his time on stage to reveal that Nikki Glaser used to babysit his kids.

Fashion Standouts:

– Brittany Snow

– George and Amal Clooney

– Teyana Taylor

-Nick Jonas

-Jennifer Garner

-Michael B. Jordan

-Justine Lupe-Schomp

Surprises:

Best Kept Secret Let Out:

–Wunmi Mosaku Announces Pregnancy

Hosting Notes (Nikki Glaser):

– Nikki Glaser came out at the 2026 Golden Globes with jokes aimed at Leonardo DiCaprio, Kevin Hart and CBS News.

– Nikki Glaser honored Rob Reiner at the Golden Globes by wearing a hat that referenced his 1984 film This Is Spinal Tap

Here Are the Categories and Nominees

Photo by Martti Salmi on Unsplash

FILM

Cinematic and Box Office Achievement

Winner: Sinners

Avatar: Fire and Ash
F1
KPop Demon Hunters
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
Weapons
Wicked 2
Zootopia 2

Best Film – Drama

Winner: Hamnet

Frankenstein
A simple accident
The Secret Agent
Sentimental Value
Sinners

Best Film – Musical or Comedy

Winner: One Battle After Another

Blue Moon
Bugonia
Marty Supreme
No Other Choice
Nouvelle Vague

Best Non-English Language Film

Winner: The Secret Agent

It Was Just an Accident

No Other Choice

Sentimental Value

Sirât

The Voice of Hind Rajab

Best Animated Film

Winner: KPop Demon Hunters

Arco

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle

Elio

Little Amélie or the Character of Rain

Zootopia 2

Best Lead Actor – Drama

Winner: Wagner Moura, The Secret Agent

Joel Edgerton, Train Dreams
Oscar Isaac, Frankenstein
Dwayne Johnson, The Smashing Machine
Michael B. Jordan, Sinners
Jeremy Allen White, Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere

Photo by Thea Hdc on Unsplash

Best Actress – Drama

Winner: Jessie Buckley, Hamnet

Jennifer Lawrence, Die My Love
Renate Reinsve, Sentimental Value
Julia Roberts, After the Hunt
Tessa Thompson, Hedda
Eva Victor, Sorry, Baby

Best Lead Actor – Musical or Comedy

Winner: Timothée Chalamet, Marty Supreme

George Clooney, Jay Kelly
Leonardo DiCaprio, One Battle After Another
Ethan Hawke, Blue Moon
Lee Byung-Hun, No Other Choice
Jesse Plemons, Bugonia

Best Lead Actress – Musical or Comedy

Winner: Rose Byrne, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

Cynthia Erivo, Wicked 2
Kate Hudson, Song Sung Blue
Chase Infiniti, One Battle After Another
Amanda Seyfried, The Testament of Ann Lee
Emma Stone, Bugonia

Best Supporting Actress

Winner: Teyana Taylor, One Battle After Another

Emily Blunt, The Smashing Machine
Elle Fanning, Sentimental Value
Ariana Grande, Wicked 2
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Sentimental Value
Amy Madigan, Weapons

Best Supporting Actor

Winner: Stellan Skarsgård, Sentimental Value

Benicio del Toro, One Battle After Another
Jacob Elordi, Frankenstein
Paul Mescal, Hamnet
Sean Penn, One Battle After Another
Adam Sandler, Jay Kelly

Best Director

Winner: Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another

Ryan Coogler, Sinners
Guillermo del Toro, Frankenstein
Jafar Panahi, A Simple Accident
Joachim Trier, Sentimental Value
Chloé Zhao, Hamnet

Best Screenplay

Winner: Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another

Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie, Marty Supreme
Ryan Coogler, Sinners
Jafar Panahi, A Simple Accident
Maggie O’Farrell, Hamnet

Best Original Song

Winner: Golden from KPop Demon Hunters

Dream as One from Avatar: Fire and Ash
I Lied to You from Sinners
No Place Like Home from Wicked 2
The Girl in the Bubble from Wicked 2
Train Dreams from Train Dreams

Best Original Score

Winner: Sinners

Frankenstein
One Battle After Another
Sirat
Hamnet
F1

16-year-old Owen Cooper also won a Golden Globe for his chilling performance in Adolescence.

Courtesy of Netflix

TV

Best TV Series – Musical or Comedy

Winner: The Studio

Abbott Elementary
The Bear
Hacks
Nobody Wants This
Only Murders in the Building

Best TV Series – Drama

Winner: The Pitt

Diplomatic relations
Pluribus
Severance
Slow Horses
The White Lotus

Best Limited Series

Winner: Adolescence

All Her Fault
The Beast in Me
Black Mirror
Dying for Sex
The Poison of the Soul

Best Lead Actor in a Television Series – Drama

Winner: Noah Wyle, The Pitt

Sterling K. Brown, Paradise
Diego Luna, Andor
Gary Oldman, Slow Horses
Mark Ruffalo, Task
Adam Scott, Severance

Best Lead Actress in a Television Series – Drama

Winner: Rhea Seehorn, Pluribus

Kathy Bates, Matlock
Britt Lower, Severance
Helen Mirren, Mobland
Bella Ramsey, The Last of Us
Keri Russell, Diplomatic Relations

Best Lead Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy

Winner: Seth Rogen, The Studio

Adam Brody, Nobody Wants This

Steve Martin, Only Murders in the Building
Glen Powell, Chad Powers
Martin Short, Only Murders in the Building
Jeremy Allen White, The Bear

Best Lead Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy

Winner: Jean Smart, Hacks

Kristen Bell, Nobody Wants This
Ayo Edebiri, The Bear
Selena Gomez, Only Murders in the Building
Natasha Lyonne, Poker Face
Jenna Ortega, Wednesday

Best Supporting Actor in a Musical Comedy or Drama Television Series

Winner: Owen Cooper, Adolescence

Billy Crudup, The Morning Show
Walton Goggins, The White Lotus
Jason Isaacs, The White Lotus
Tramell Tillman, Severance
Ashley Walters, Adolescence

Best Supporting Actress in a Musical Comedy or Drama Television Series

Winner: Erin Doherty, Adolescence

Carrie Coon, The White Lotus
Hannah Einbinder, Hacks
Catherine O’Hara, The Studio
Parker Posey, The White Lotus
Aimee Lou Wood, The White Lotus

Best actor in a Limited Series

Winner: Stephen Graham, Adolescence

Jacob Elordi, The Narrow Road to the Deep North
Paul Giamatti, Black Mirror
Charlie Hunnam, Monster: The Story of Ed Gein
Jude Law, Black Rabbit
Matthew Rhys, The Beast in Me

Best Actress in a Limited Series

Winner: Michelle Williams, Dying for Sex

Claire Danes, The Beast in Me
Rashida Jones, Black Mirror
Amanda Seyfried, Long Bright River
Sarah Snook, All Her Fault
Robin Wright, The Poison of the Soul

Best Stand-Up Comedy TV Show

Winner: Ricky Gervais: Mortality

Bill Maher: Is Anyone Else Seeing This?
Brett Goldstein: The Second Best Night of Your Life
Kevin Hart: Acting My Age
Kumail Nanjiani: Night Thoughts
Sarah Silverman: Postmortem

Best Podcast

Winner: Good Hang with Amy Poehler

Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard
Call Her Daddy
The Mel Robbins Podcast
Smartless
Up First

Nikki Lanigan

Nikki Lanigan is a yoga, HIIT, and Barre instructor, she is also a Holistic Health Coach through Institute of Integrative Nutrition. Nikki is trained in Yoga Shred, Yoga Psychology, meditation, chakra balancing, and EFT/Tapping. She has done trainings with Sadie Nardini and Ashley Turner. She got her 200 hour yoga teacher training in 2017 at the Carrie Treister School Of Yoga. Nikki takes a holistic view of health, helping her students and clients reach a place of self-love not just through movement, but with mindset and lifestyle guidance as well. Nikki is also show prep writer for The McVay Media Show Prep and host of the podcast Fit, Fun, and Frazzled. Connect with Nikki on Instagram. www.instagram.com/nikkilanigan.yogaandwellness www.instagram.com/fitfunandfrazzledpodcast