Seth Meyers took the brainy incredulity that's made Late Night vital viewing to his Golden Globe Awards monologue Sunday night. He used his time to talk about the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment represented at the ceremony by black-clad activists, some of whom also sported "Time's Up" pins advocating for the new foundation raising funds for the legal defense of women who come forward against workplace harassers.
Meyers came into the show with people expecting him to talk about what's going on in Washington and in Hollywood. Before the show, he told Variety that he'd focusing more on Hollywood on Globes night, and said that he'd try to tread lightly and try to strike the right balance between funny and respectful in terms of the gravity of the sexual harassment epidemic.
"We'll aim for the line, and knowing how my history has gone, we'll probably end up on the wrong side of it one or two times," he told Variety.
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And he came out swinging, skipping the traditional pre-taped opening number to make more jokes about Harvey Weinstein, Donald Trump and especially Kevin Spacey.
"Good evening, ladies and remaining gentleman!" Meyers said as he took the stage.
"Happy New Year, Hollywood!" he said. "It's 2018, marijuana is finally allowed, and sexual harassment finally isn't. It'll be a good year!"
He told a couple of jokes at his expense: "There's a new era underway and I can tell, because it's been years since a white man was this nervous in Hollywood. By the way, a special hello to hosts of other upcoming awards shows who are watching me like the first dog they shot into outer space."
He then moved on to the room in front of him. "For the male nominees in the room tonight, this is the first time in three months it won't terrifying to hear your name read out loud," he said.
He then told his first Trump joke. "If it's any consolation, I'm not even the most powerful Seth in the room tonight," he said as the camera cut to Seth Rogen. "Remember when he was the one making trouble with North Korea? Simpler times." The room erupted at that one.
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He joked that producers asked a woman to host the show."They really did. They said, hey, how would you like to come and be judged by some of the most powerful people in Hollywood? And women were like, hmm, where is it? They said, it's at a hotel and long story short, I'm your host tonight," referencing Weinstein's penchant for luring women to his hotel rooms.
"Harvey Weinstein isn't here tonight, because, well, I've heard rumors that he's crazy and difficult to work with," Meyers said. "But don't worry, he'll be back in 20 years when he becomes the first person ever booed during the in memoriam."
He told an equally (deservedly) mean joke about Kevin Spacey, saying that he hopes Christopher Plummer, who replaced Spacey in All the Money in the World, is also available to replace Spacey on House of Cards and can do a Southern accent, "because Kevin Spacey sure couldn't."
He did manage to tell a few solid, straightforward Hollywood jokes, the best of which was "I live in New York, so one of my favorite shows of the year was The Deuce. If you haven't seen it, The Deuce is a show about Times Square in the early '70s when New York was so seedy there were two James Francos."
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Meyers did a bit borrowed from Late Night where he sets up a joke and someone who isn't a straight white dude tells the punchline, which included an even harsher Spacey joke: Meyers described Call Me Be Your Name as "a gay coming of age film" and then Billy Eichner said "Said Kevin Spacey: 'you lost me at of age." Meyers and Amy Poehler then did a long riff where Poehler said she didn't need him to mansplain how to tell a joke and she just told the punchline: "Said the peach in Call Me By Your Name, 'this scene is the pits.'"
He shouted out the activists Poehler and others brought with them, and thanked all the women who worked so hard to create the moment.
"People in this room worked really hard to get here, but it's clear now more than ever before that the women had to work harder," he said. "So thank you for all the amazing work that you've all done and continue to do, I look forward to you leading us to whatever comes next."
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