At the 74th annual Golden Globes, Hollywood took aim at president-elect Donald Trump's divisive rhetoric. Most notably, Meryl Streep, the multiple Golden Globe winner, chastised the incoming president, without ever mentioning him by name.
Meryl Streep, a prominent supporter of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, indulged in somewhat of a political diatribe whilst accepting the Cecil B DeMille Award. Streep defended Hollywood against suggestions of economic elitism before demanding that people in the arts must be both resilient and proactive in the face of prejudice.
"Hollywood is crawling with outsiders and foreigners. Where are their birth certificates? So, if you kick them all out, you'll have nothing to watch but football and mixed martial arts. And that is not the arts," Streep said.
Trump fires back
Naturally, Streep's comments drew the ire of president-elect Donald Trump, who told the New York Times that he didn't watch the show. In a characteristic Twitter rant, Trump denounced Streep as "one of the most over-rated actresses" and a "Hillary flunky who lost big".
Meryl Streep, one of the most over-rated actresses in Hollywood, doesn't know me but attacked last night at the Golden Globes. She is a.....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 9 January 2017
Hillary flunky who lost big. For the 100th time, I never "mocked" a disabled reporter (would never do that) but simply showed him.......
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 9 January 2017
"groveling" when he totally changed a 16 year old story that he had written in order to make me look bad. Just more very dishonest media!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 9 January 2017
Streep wasn't finished there.
Referencing Trump when he mocked a disabled journalist, Streep commented: "It kind of broke my heart when I saw it. I can't get it out of my head. It wasn't in a movie, it was in real life. This behaviour allows other people to act in the same way, as it filters down. Disrespect invites disrespect, violence incites violence".
A recurring theme
Earlier in the evening, host Jimmy Fallon said that The Golden Globes are one of the few "places in America that still honours the popular vote". Furthermore, Fallon, when noting that HBO's Game of Thrones was up for a Golden Globe, said some fans had hypothesised about what would have occurred if the nefarious King Joffrey had survived, "in twelve days we're going to find out", Fallon quipped.
Hugh Laurie, who picked up a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Night Manager, implied that this year's Golden Globes would be the last ever due to Trump's upcoming presidency. Similarly, renowned intellectual Stephen Hawking unleashed a scathing attack on Donald Trump, calling him a "demagogue".
Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas defended Streep and Hollywood, tweeting: " Entertainment figures have the right to express political opinions, we have the right not to patornize them".
