You may have caught all the best and worst red-carpet fashion, the surprise winners (Fernanda Torres!), and the teary acceptance speeches—but plenty of things happened at the 2025 Golden Globes that didn’t make it onto the broadcast. Thankfully, Vanity Fair’s Rebecca Ford and David Canfield were at the Beverly Hilton on Sunday night, where they caught all the action live and in person—from the crowded red carpet to the buzzing bar and sushi station that ended up as the place to be during the show.
Red-Carpet Mayhem
At awards shows like the Emmys, Oscars, and the SAG Awards, the red carpet is divided into lanes: one for famous talent who need to do interviews and take photos, and one for regular guests who are attending the show. However, this year’s Globes carpet surprisingly didn’t do that, so the Vanity Fair team got to roam around the carpet and catch lots of celebrity action up close. Upon arrival, Angelina Jolie—who brought her daughter Zahara as a plus-one—ran into NBCUniversal Studio Group’s Donna Langley, and Jolie quickly introduced Zahara to the exec. Nicole Kidman arrived soon after, and went to hug Salma Hayek. Emma Stone followed, sporting a surprising new pixie cut, and received compliments from many of the other attendees.
As the carpet wound down, a massive line formed ahead of the photography section, with the likes of Michelle Yeoh, Jeffrey Goldblum, and Colin Farrell all waiting for their turn. Zendaya was also stuck in the crowd, but eventually found her way up to the front rather than waiting somewhere the long train of her burnt orange satin dress from Louis Vuitton could be stepped on. Cate Blanchett also saw her gold Louis Vuitton dress, which she first wore at the Cannes Film Festival in May, become a casualty of the crowded carpet, when she had to politely ask another attendee to step off the back of it. They both laughed about the chaos.
Can You Hear Me Now?
In the packed Beverly Hilton ballroom, attendees had a very different experience than viewers did watching the show on TV at home. Sure, there was the usual buzz of many people talking at the same time—but there were also major sound issues throughout the broadcast that made it difficult to hear what anyone was saying onstage. That may be why some of the presenters’ bits didn’t get very many laughs—unless it was just that some of the bits simply weren’t working.
Bar Room Snacks and Gossip
Unless you arrive at the Golden Globes extremely early—which, let’s face it, no notable nominee is doing—dinner has come and gone by the time you get to your seat. That’s but one reason why the bar in the back corner of the ballroom rather quickly emerged as the place to be: Small trays of Nobu sushi and delectable desserts were endlessly flowing there, and guests of all kinds needed to match their booze intake with sustenance. When it was still a little quieter, we saw the likes of Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, and Harrison Ford wander around for a little preshow calm. But by the first commercial break, the bar was where you had to find the action. The casts of Abbott Elementary and The Bear held court—we particularly enjoyed watching the latter show’s Lionel Boyce get to know Nickel Boys director RaMell Ross—and because there was no TV in there, it felt blessedly removed from the tension of knowing who was winning. When Demi Moore won best actress, for instance, the room remained silent—I only managed to catch her speech because of the roars I could faintly hear outside of the clinking glasses and sushi munching.
This is certainly why Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, the Oscar nominee back in the race this year for best-drama nominee Nickel Boys, was at the bar when I found her: “We’re only nominated for one award, and it’s like the last one of the night!” Why stress in your seat when you can have a caviar taco?
Selena Gomez’s Fairytale Night
The star of Emilia Pérez and double Globe nominee wowed on the carpet in her custom Prada column gown, with fans in the bleachers yelling to her, “You look like Cinderella!” It seemed like a fairy-tale evening for her (even though Gomez didn’t win in either of her categories), with her fiancé, Benny Blanco, by her side. On the red carpet, he stood nearby, watching as she did her interviews. After finishing one, Nicole Kidman stopped Gomez on the carpet. They held hands and spoke for quite a while, despite the chaos surrounding them. Gomez was then approached by Cesily Collette Taylor, who plays the young Nessarose in Wicked, who wanted to meet her. Gomez bent down to Taylor’s wheelchair and chatted with her a bit, then asked if she wanted to take a photo together.
New Globes Voters Shake It Up
At the show, many awards consultants and studio execs were talking about how different the process is now that the Globes voter body has expanded from 80-something voters based in Los Angeles to more than 300 based around the world, and mostly internationally. They told Vanity Fair how it used to be pretty easy to make sure every voter was seeing each film, and many awards strategists had personal, one-on-one relationships with those old Hollywood Foreign Press Association members. Now, with the expanded membership, it’s harder to ensure they’re all seeing what’s eligible, and also harder to predict how they’ll vote.
Overall, most strategists seemed quite happy that the old Globes ways are a thing of the past, and the winners they select seem to be more consistent with how the Academy and other legitimate groups will vote. They told Vanity Fair that the group’s more international membership is definitely a big part of the reason Brazilian actor Torres was able to get such a major win, taking best actress in a drama—which should be a big boost for her Oscar chances.
Inside the Commercial Breaks
Look, let’s be honest: Journalists don’t always get the best seats at these things. But via surrounding TVs, all attendees at the Globes got a great look at what was going on between the stars during every commercial break. You’d see Nicole Kidman launch into an intense, seemingly emotional conversation with newly minted five-time Globe winner Jodie Foster, or Shōgun star Tadanobu Asano meet some Hollywood icons after winning his first-ever American acting award. I was most struck, though, by watching some of the biggest stars in the room mob Demi Moore after she gave the best speech of the night for her best-actress win for The Substance. Seeing her peers—and, ahem, Academy members—like Edward Norton approach her with warm congratulations offered a potent reminder of why a great speech actually can make a difference in a tight Hollywood awards race. The people listening are the same ones voting, and if they’re as moved as we are, well, that just might show up on their Oscar ballot.
Nikki Glaser’s Good Night
To be in the room during last year’s Golden Globes opening monologue was to join hundreds of celebrities in collective, awkward silence. This year delivered the exact opposite experience. Nikki Glaser had the crowd with her from very early on, and it’s something you could feel just by sharing looks with others in the room. At one point in the bar, I overheard an executive rave, “She’s so funny,” and it didn’t take much work to figure out who he was talking about. Safe to say there was nothing to overhear of the kind last year, when Jo Koy’s epic bomb to kick off the ceremony proved hard to come back from.
Netflix Parties Hard
When Emilia Pérez won the final award of the night for best picture (comedy/musical), its fourth Globe overall, it was clear that a fun night was in store at Netflix’s Spago after-party. Indeed, before long, the dance floor was moving, the big nominees were mingling, and the streamer’s bigwigs were all smiles, kicking off the final act of this unpredictable awards season with resounding victory. Early arrivals included a glowing Viola Davis, recipient of this year’s Cecil B. DeMille Globe, and Netflix nominees including Hitman’s Glen Powell, Monsters’ Cooper Koch, and Baby Reindeer’s Jessica Gunning (the latter of whom ultimately took home the award). But you could also find Seth Meyers there, or Colman Domingo, who may be in the race with a rival studio’s film this year—A24’s Sing Sing—but just a year ago became a first-time Globe and Oscar nominee with Netflix’s Rustin.
Of course, all eyes went toward the Emilia folks as they filed in. Gomez attended but didn’t stay long, while I saw hordes of people following around Karla Sofia Gascón, surely still moved by her rousing speech that ended the night. Best-supporting-actress winner Zoe Saldaña received a huge round of applause when she entered the party, raising her Globes statuette in her hand. As she walked through the room, she stopped to chat with Netflix’s Ted Sarandos and his wife, Nicole Avant, and then was greeted by Wilmer Valderrama and his fiancée, Amanda Pacheco, as well as Stephanie Beatriz and Eiza González, who all shared warm congratulations with her. Saldaña finally made her way to her table, with someone yelling “and there’s champagne!” at her as she celebrated her momentous win for the rest of the night.
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