Jerrod Carmichael made sure he was getting a plush paycheck before signing on to host the 2023 Golden Globe Awards, held Jan. 10 at the Beverly Hilton. The Emmy-winning stand-up, 35, revealed he was getting paid $500k to host the gig during his opening monologue, where he directly dissed the awards for their past diversity scandal.
“I’m here cause I’m black,” he joked, addressing the first Emmy’s audience since it was revealed they had zero black members in a 2020 exposè by the Los Angeles Times. The following year, NBC chose not to televise the awards in light of the scandal, while talent and creatives boycotted the Globes almost entirely.
Giving everyone a refresher, Jerrod went on, “I’ll catch everyone in the room up. The Golden Globe Awards did not air last year because the HFPA — which, I won’t say they were a racist organization, but they didn’t have a single Black member until George Floyd died, so do with that information what you will…”
Then, he recounted how he got the job. “I was at home, drinking tea, when I got a phone call from my man Stephen Hill,” he rememberd. “He said, ‘Jerrod, I’m producing the 80th Golden Globes and it would be an honor if you would agree to be the host.’ I was like, ‘Whoa.’ One minute you’re making mint tea at home, and next you’re invited to be the Black face of an embattled white organization. Life comes at you fast!'”
Still, he had qualms about taking on the Globes. “I said, ‘Stephen, I’m torn. I’ll be honest with you: I’m only being asked to host this, I know, because I’m Black.’ He said, ‘Let me stop you right there, Jerrod. You’re being asked to host this show because you’re talented. You’re being asked to host this show because you’re charming. You’re being asked to host this show because you’re one of the greatest comedians of a generation.’”
Cutting into the crowd’s applause, Jerrod said, “But Stephen’s Black, so what does he know? He’s only producing the show because he’s Black! They’re not gonna tell him why he’s here either!”
Searching for a voice of reason, the star turned to his friend Avery, who he said was a stand-in for “every Black person in America,” simply for “the sake of this monologue.” He remembered, “I said, ‘Avery they asked me to host the Golden Globe! What should I do?’ She said, ‘I’m so proud of you, now, remind me which award show is that again?”
Reminding her it was the one “with the ‘no Black people’ thing,” he asked Avery if he should take the job. Getting down to the basics, she asked him how much he was getting paid. When he revealed it was a half-a-million dollars, Avery only had one thing to say: “Boy, if you don’t put on a good suit and take the white people money!”
The comic has been no stranger to a red carpet recently. Last year, Jerrod snagged the Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special for his special Carmichael: Rothaniel, which was hailed as cutting and self-aware. In 2021, the North Carolina native directed, produced, and starred in the black comedy On the Count of Three. He was praised for the HBO documentaries Home Videos (2019) and Sermon on the Mount, (2019), which he created, directed, produced, and starred in. And before that, he created and starred in The Carmichael Show which ran for three seasons from 2015 to 2017.