‘Woke’ Golden Globes tanked: Ratings hit historic low in 2023

The numbers are in, and the ceremony was not watched across the globe. 

The 2023 Golden Globes on Tuesday night hit a historic low in viewership numbers, bringing in just 6.3 million people, according to data from Nielsen. For comparison, at the height of the pandemic, in 2021, the broadcast drew 6.9 million, while 2020 boasted 18.3 million viewers.

Hosted by comedian Jerrod Carmichael, the show, which aired on NBC, started with a bang, as he addressed the elephant in the room — and the reason why last year’s telecast was cancelled — about the lack of diversity among the Hollywood Foreign Press, the awards’ parent organization. He also got in a zinger about Scientology‘s allegedly missing First Lady, Shelly Miscavige.

The Globes’ lack of diversity and inclusion may have been enough to keep some viewers tuned-out this year. Meanwhile, as the anti-“woke” warriors of Twitter would indicate, a more self-aware awards show wouldn’t be enough to get them interested.

The night was filled with a mix of good and bad moments. Plenty of big name shows won, including “House of the Dragon” bafflingly taking the “Best drama” series trophy, for some reason, and Colin Farrell and Martin McDonagh both winning big for their film, “The Banshees of Inisherin.” Eddit Murphy got a career achievement award and gave an amusing speech.

It was a big night for “Abbott Elementary,” too, and Angela Bassett made history as the first actress to win for a role in the MCU. Jennifer Coolidge dominated the night, with not one but two memorable monologues onstage (and she won for “The White Lotus”).

“Yellowstone” can now finally stop complaining about getting ignored, too, since Kevin Costner won (by proxy Regina Hall). Michelle Yeoh won for “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” and Austin Butler won for “Elvis,” causing a stir about his accent.  

But apparently, none of that was enough to draw a crowd. It narrowly avoided missing being the all time low, but the 2008 writer’s strike meant that that year had the lowest numbers, with just 6 million tuning in.

The Globes used to happen on Sunday nights, so it’s possible that not enough people were aware it was airing on a Tuesday.