Chris Rock, other top comedic talents decline offers to host Golden Globes

With Globe nominations being announced on Monday morning, a search for the host is still underway, CNN has learned. Two-time Oscar host Chris Rock is among those to decline offers to host the January 7 ceremony. A source with knowledge of the conversations told CNN that at least four other A-list comedic actors declined to […]

With Globe nominations being announced on Monday morning, a search for the host is still underway, CNN has learned. Two-time Oscar host Chris Rock is among those to decline offers to host the January 7 ceremony. A source with knowledge of the conversations told CNN that at least four other A-list comedic actors declined to host the event.

However, a representative for Chris Rock declined to comment.

Rock, who was also asked to host the previous Golden Globes, last attended a major award show in 2022 when Will Smith was famously slapped at the Oscars for telling a joke referencing Jada Pinkett Smith’s battle with alopecia.

He will likely be a nominee at the upcoming ceremony in the new category of best performance in stand-up comedy on television for his Netflix special, “Chris Rock: Selective Outrage.”

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Another potential nominee for her performance in the Netflix series “Beef,” Ali Wong, was also approached to host the Globes, a source with knowledge of the matter told CNN. As first reported by Puck, Wong declined the gig, the source said.

A representative for Wong declined to comment.

Will Arnett, Sean Hayes and Jason Bateman, who co-host the podcast “SmartLess,” turned down a joint offer to emcee the Globes, two sources aware of the deal told CNN.

A representative for “SmartLess” declined to comment.

Had the trio said yes, it would have marked the first time the Globes had three hosts since Louis Gossett Jr., Leslie Nielsen and Jane Seymour co-helmed the show in 1993. A majority of the annual boozy dinner party’s 81 ceremonies have actually gone without a host, but the Globes seem to draw more chatter when they have one… or two.

There’s little hope Amy Poehler and Tina Fey, who co-hosted the Globes four times to critical acclaim, would return. The two have previously promised they’re done with the gig.

Apparently, they meant it.

“They would never do it (again),” a source close to Poehler and Fey told CNN this week. “They’re done.”

A spokesperson for the Golden Globes declined to comment, but a source familiar with the search said there are “three very serious conversations” going on with potential hosts.

This year, the Globes moves to a new broadcast home at CBS. One possible outcome is, of course, that CBS casts one of its own stars in the role for three hours of free promotion. It’s an approach NBC took several times as the previous broadcast home of the Globes, casting network comedic talent like Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers and Andy Samberg as hosts of the event. At ABC, network star Jimmy Kimmel will return to host the Oscars in March for the fourth time.

Talent turning down the job to host a major awards show is not unusual nor unique to the Globes. For an up-and-coming comedian, the gig may be the opportunity of a lifetime, but for a seasoned veteran, with all of the preparation and immediate – often negative – feedback, the juice is not worth the squeeze.

“It’s a thankless job,” one celebrity publicist told CNN.

“It’s not worth it,” another top publicist said of hosting award shows. There are a lot of politics. It’s not easy and it’s not fun anymore.”

While a host for the weeks-away Globes remains in question, the Beverly Hilton ballroom could feature appearances by likely nominees Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert DeNiro, Martin Scorsese, Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Meryl Streep, Selena Gomez, Emma Stone, Natalie Portman, Jennifer Aniston and Quinta Brunson.

The Golden Globes will serve as the kick-off to a jam-packed award season in which the entertainment industry aims to bring glitz, glamour and celebration back to Hollywood after double strikes shut down most productions for much of 2023.

The Golden Globes are also still working to overcome a scandal that surfaced in 2021 when the Los Angeles Times documented the lack of Black members within the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which presented the awards, and potential ethical transgressions related to the oversized influence of its then-roster of 87 international journalists.