Golden Globes 2024: Producers reportedly scrambling to find a host amid sweep of rejections

With less than a month to go until the big night, the Golden Globes has reportedly encountered a rather glaring problem.

The 81st annual Golden Globe Awards has hit a major snafu, just weeks out from the big night.

It’s one of the most prestigious film and TV awards ceremonies alongside the Oscars, Emmys, Screen Actors’ Guild Awards and the BAFTAs – but according to CNN, it’s struggling to find a host.

Sources told the publication that SmartLess podcasters and actors Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett have already rejected an invitation to helm the January 7 show together, and that comedians Chris Rock and Ali Wong were among the many others who also declined.

Four-time Golden Globe hosting duo Amy Poehler and Tina Fey apparently aren’t keen to make it to five, either – with an insider close to the pair telling CNN that they would “never do it (again). They’re done.”

The comedy duo hosted in 2014.

... and again in 2021.

According to a source “familiar” with the situation, there is still some hope of securing a host, with “three very serious conversations” currently underway.

While the run of rejections in the lead-up to the Golden Globes is certainly far from ideal, going ahead without a host wouldn’t be unprecedented.

In fact, until Ricky Gervais’ iconic performance hosting the 2010 show, the Globes was one of only two major Hollywood award ceremonies that did not have a regular host, and instead just featured a different presenter each year to introduce the show.

Gervais’ blistering roast of Hollywood in his opening monologue is iconic.

But the host scramble is just the latest issue facing the embattled event.

The 2023 Golden Globes, hosted by Jerrod Carmichael, attracted the show’s second-lowest ratings of all time.

From 2010 until 2020, the event generally averaged about 17 million to 20 million viewers, reaching 18 million in 2020. The scaled-back 2021 pandemic edition saw a massive – but not unexpected – decline of 6.9 million, but last year’s show dropped even further, down to 6.3 million.

Barbie leads the pack in nominations for the 2024 awards show.

And the Globes is also still attempting to recover from an ethics and diversity scandal which unfolded two years ago, after it was revealed by the LA Times that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, whose members vote at the awards, had no Black members.

The exposé prompted a widespread entertainment industry boycott, and the HFPA announced it was disbanding earlier this year, with the ceremony sold off to Dick Clark Productions.

The Golden Globes Foundation has since been established as successor to the HFPA.

Nominations for the 2024 Golden Globes were announced in Los Angeles overnight, with Aussie stars Margot Robbie, Sarah Snook and Elizabeth Debicki all receiving nods for their work.

The “Barbenheimer” effect appeared to be in full swing, with box office megahit Barbie leading the field with eight nominations, while its premiere partner Oppenheimer collected seven.