Fey and Poehler’s third and final Golden Globes performance proved their boldest – and potentially most controversial.
By Jere Hester ••
Tina Fey and Amy Poehler possess two of the most distinctive voices in comedy. But in their third and last Golden Globes hosting stint, they channeled the once-comforting tones of scandal-plagued Bill Cosby with scathing dueling impressions destined to echo far beyond Sunday’s awards show broadcast on NBC.
One thing came through loud and clear from start to finish, as the hosting team skewered America’s ex-dad, "The Interview" fiasco and Hollywood sexism: Fey and Poehler were unwilling to coast through their final go-around. They delivered their boldest, most memorable – and likely most controversial – Globes performance.
Fey set the sharp tone by gleefully greeting the ballroom full of "despicable spoiled, minimally talented brats" – a reference to producer Scott Rudin’s unflattering assessment of Angelina Jolie, as revealed in the hacked Sony emails.
In a line that could have come out of her old “Weekend Update” gig with Poehler on “Saturday Night Live,” Fey heralded the Globes as an opportunity to recognize “all the movies North Korea was okay with.” The duo invoked “The Interview” mess throughout, via a running gag featuring Margaret Cho as a dour North Korean film fan magazine reporter clad like Kim Jong-un.
Fey knocked Hollywood unrealistic beauty standards by mocking Steve Carell’s daily two-hour stint in the make-up chair for his role as killer John du Pont in “Foxcatcher”: “It took me three hours today to prepare for my role as ‘human woman,’” she said. Amid Russell Crowe’s recent comments about older actresses refusing to act their age, Poehler quipped, “’Boyhood’ proves there are still great roles for women over 40 – as long as you get hired when you’re under 40.”
That line got applause. But Poehler drew gasps when, while summarizing “Into the Woods,” she invoked the numerous sexual assault accusations against Cosby by women who charge the comedian drugged them. “Sleeping Beauty just thought she was getting coffee with Bill Cosby,” Poehler said.
She and Fey then traded imitations of Cosby, in full Jell-O pudding pop commercial mode: “I put the pills in the people, the people did not want the pills in them,” Fey-as-Cosby bellowed.
Then in was Poehler’s turn: “I got the pills in the bathroom, and I put them in the people.”
It marked a daring bit by Fey and Poehler, who were enlisted to host the Golden Globes two years ago, in part, as a gentler alternative to Ricky Gervais’ 2010-2012 trilogy of irreverence, which rankled some of the Hollywood elite.
On Sunday, the roles were reversed, with Gervais proving almost subtle when presenting an award, teasing the “over-privileged” crowd and taking a thinly veiled swipe at Cosby. “If we’ve learned one thing, it’s that famous people are above the law – as it should be,” a grinning Gervais said, assuming his faux pompous celebrity persona, beverage in hand.
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(L-R) Recording artist Taylor Swift, musician Este Haim, actress Jaime King, producer Harvey Weinstein and recording artist Lorde attend The Weinstein Company's 2015 Golden Globe Awards.
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Actor Kelsey Grammer and Kayte Walsh attend the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards cocktail party at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, California.
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Actress Lena Dunham attends HBO's Official Golden Globe Awards After Party at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, California.
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Peter Schlessel, Focus Features CEO, Hannah Bagshawe and Golden Globe Eddie Redmayne seen at the Universal, NBC, Focus Features, E! Entertainment Golden Globes After Party Sponsored by Chrysler and Hilton on Sunday, Jan 11, 2014, in Beverly Hills.
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Model Alessandra Ambrosio attends the 2015 InStyle And Warner Bros. 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards Post-Party at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, California.
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Peter Schlessel, Focus Features CEO, Felicity Jones, Golden Globe winner Johan Johansson and Jeff Shell, Chairman, Universal Filmed Entertainment seen at the Universal, NBC, Focus Features, E! Entertainment Golden Globes After Party Sponsored by Chrysler and Hilton on Sunday, Jan 11, 2014, in Beverly Hills. (Photo by Eric Charbonneau/Invision for Focus Features/AP Images)
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Jason Schwartzman, and from left, Tony Revolori, Owen Wilson and Adrien Brody are seen at FOX's 72nd annual Golden Globe Awards Party at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2015, in Beverly Hills, Calif.
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Victoria Secrets model Behati Prinsloo and Adam Levine seen at the Universal, NBC, Focus Features, E! Entertainment Golden Globes After Party Sponsored by Chrysler and Hilton on Sunday, Jan 11, 2014, in Beverly Hills.
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Eddie Redmayne seen at the Universal, NBC, Focus Features, E! Entertainment Golden Globes After Party Sponsored by Chrysler and Hilton on Sunday, Jan 11, 2014, in Beverly Hills.
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Anthony McCarten, Lisa Bruce and Eric Fellner seen at the Universal, NBC, Focus Features, E! Entertainment Golden Globes After Party Sponsored by Chrysler and Hilton on Sunday, Jan 11, 2014, in Beverly Hills. (Photo by Eric Charbonneau/Invision for Focus Features/AP Images)
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Actress Nina Dobrev attends the 2015 InStyle And Warner Bros. 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards Post-Party at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, California.
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Oprah Winfrey and actor David Oyelowo attends the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards cocktail party at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, California.
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Model Camila Alves, actors Jennifer Aniston, Justin Theroux and Matthew McConaughey attend HBO's Official Golden Globe Awards After Party at The Beverly Hilton Hotel.
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(L-R) Musician Taylor Swift, singer Lorde and actress/singer Selena Gomez attend HBO's Official Golden Globe Awards After Party.
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Actor Matt Bomer attends HBO's Official Golden Globe Awards After Party.
Actress Katie Holmes attends The Weinstein Company & Netflix's 2015 Golden Globes After Party presented by FIJI Water, Lexus, Laura Mercier and Marie Claire at The Beverly Hilton Hotel.
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Actress Sarah Hyland attends the 2015 InStyle And Warner Bros. 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards Post-Party at The Beverly Hilton Hotel.
(L-R) Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos, actor Will Arnett and actor Ricky Gervais attend The Weinstein Company & Netflix's 2015 Golden Globes After Party.
Actress Natasha Lyonne attends The Weinstein Company & Netflix's 2015 Golden Globes After Party.
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Director/actress Lena Dunham (L) and actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus attend HBO's Official Golden Globe Awards After Party.
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Actress Dakota Johnson attends HBO's Official Golden Globe Awards After Party at The Beverly Hilton Hotel.
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Actors Jeremy Renner (L) and Gabrielle Union attend HBO's Official Golden Globe Awards After Party.
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Actress Jennifer Aniston (L) and model Camila Alves attend HBO's Official Golden Globe Awards After Party.
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Singer/actress Selena Gomez attends HBO's Official Golden Globe Awards After Party at The Beverly Hilton Hotel.
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(L-R) Actress Jessica Lange, filmmaker Ryan Murphy and actress Sarah Paulson attend HBO's Official Golden Globe Awards After Party.
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Darren Le Gallo, left, and Amy Adams, winner of the award for best performance by an actress in a motion picture - comedy or musical for "Big Eyes", kiss at The Weinstein Company and Netflix Golden Globes afterparty.
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Naomi Watts and Michael Keaton are seen at FOX's 72nd annual Golden Globe Awards Party at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
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Model Camila Alves, actors Jennifer Aniston, Justin Theroux and Matthew McConaughey attend HBO's Official Golden Globe Awards after-party.
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Actress Julianne Moore attends HBO's Official Golden Globe Awards after-party.
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Michael Keaton, and from left, Alejandro González Iñárritu and Steve Gilula, President, Fox Searchlight, are seen at FOX's 72nd annual Golden Globe Awards party.
Actress Amy Adams (L) and actor Christoph Waltz attend The Weinstein Company & Netflix's 2015 Golden Globes After Party.
Designer Georgina Chapman (L) and entertainer Jennifer Lopez attend The Weinstein Company & Netflix's 2015 Golden Globes After Party.
Designer Georgina Chapman (L) and model Naomi Campbell attend The Weinstein Company & Netflix's 2015 Golden Globes After Party.
(L-R) Actors Larenz Tate, 50 Cent, and Jake Gyllenhaal attend The Weinstein Company & Netflix's 2015 Golden Globes After Party.
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Singer Rita Ora and model Cara Delevingne attend The Weinstein Company's 2015 Golden Globe Awards After Party.
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BEVERLY HILLS, CA - JANUARY 11: Writer/director Dean DeBlois (L) and producer Bonnie Arnold, winners of Best Animated Feature Film for 'How to Train Your Dragon 2,' attend The Weinstein Company's 2015 Golden Globe Awards After Party with Moet & Chandon at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Michael Kovac/Getty Images for Moet & Chandon)
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Oprah Winfrey and actor David Oyelowo attends the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards cocktail party.
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Actors Jessica Chastain (L) and Amy Adams attends the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards cocktail party at The Beverly Hilton Hotel.
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Calista Flockhart (C) and Harrison Ford (R) attend the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards cocktail party.
Fey and Poehler’s most audacious Globes performance could be seen as a reflection of the material provided by a tough few months for the entertainment business, or perhaps a desire to exit by turning up the heat from roast to broil.
Either way, they again set the buzz bar high for the Oscars, to be hosted next month by first timer Neil Patrick Harris. Along with Gervais, Fey and Poehler made the Golden Globes matter – not just as a bellwether of Academy Awards winners, but as a major TV event that promises edge, unpredictability and laughs.
There’s no word on next year’s host (Jimmy Fallon? Stephen Colbert? Chelsea Handler?). But Fey and Poehler solidified their spot Sunday as an act impossible to imitate.
