9 Big Things That Happened At The 2018 Golden Globes

And we're off. The Golden Globes have been, gone, and marked the beginning of what is shaping up to be yet another politically charged awards season.

But what actually went down at the 2018 ceremony, you ask? Don't worry. If you missed it, fell asleep or just didn't quite understand what was going on, here are 9 big talking points to get you through office chat for the next couple of days.

1. Pretty much everyone wore black

As part of Times Up, an initiative that's largely being hailed as the follow up to the huge #MeToo movement, celebrities opted to wear black on the red carpet in acknowledgement and solidarity of those who have suffered sexual harassment not just in Hollywood, but everywhere. You'd be hard pressed to spot anyone dressed in anything but the colour of the night as the calls of the women behind Times Up were met by an incredible turn out.

As for how far the effects of this act of protest will ripple beyond the realms of a Hollywood awards ceremony, we're unsure. But the first step was a significant one and drew a lot of attention to an incredibly important cause.

There were also lots of Times Up pins being worn, as here demonstrated by Justin Timberlake...

2. Some women brought activists as dates to the awards

Political statements we're of course the theme this year, and for some actresses it extended beyond the dresses they wore to the people they walked the red carpet with. This year eight actresses opted to bring various activists as their dates to further highlight the Times Up cause.

Michelle Williams was joined by Tarana Burke, founder of the #metoo movement and senior director of the nonprofit organisation Girls for Gender Equality. *Big Little Lies *actress Laura Dern arrived with Monica Ramirez who co-founded an organisation called Alianza Nacional de Campesiana which represents female farmworkers in America while Meryl Street brought Ai-jen Poo who is the director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance.

Then there's also Rosa Clemente, a community organiser and Hip Hop activist, attended the Globes with actress Susan Sarandon and Saru Jayaraman, advocate for restaurant workers and co-founder/co-director of Restaurant Opportunities Centers United who arrives with Golden Globe host Amy Poehler.

Emma Stone brought tennis player and founder of the Women's Tennis Association Billie Jean King (yes, the woman Emma played in *Battle of the Sexes *last year) and Emma Watson attended with fellow Brit Marai Larasi who is the executive director of the Imkaan network which works to combat violence against black and minority women in the UK.

3. Oprah's acceptance of the Lifetime Achievement Award was historic

Last year Meryl Streep took to the stage to make *that *amazing speech and this year it was Oprah Winfrey's turn to accept the coveted Cecil B DeMille Lifetime Achievement award.

In an odd sort of victory (because why are we still celebrating 'firsts' in 2017), Oprah is the first black woman to be given the award and it's an accolade that she doesn't take lightly. 'I’d never seen a black man being celebrated like that', she said referring to when she watched Sidney Poitier become the first black actor to win an Oscar back when she was a child.

'And I tried many, many times to explain what a moment like that means to a little girl, a kid watching from the cheap seats as my mom came through the door bone-tired from cleaning other people’s houses,” she recalled. “In 1982, Sidney received the Cecil B. DeMille award right here at the Golden Globe awards and it is not lost on me that at this moment, there are some little girls watching as I become the first black woman to be given this same award.'

It's safe to say that Oprah pretty much stole the whole show. Her speech was beautifully powerful and resulted in calls from the Twittersphere for Oprah to be the next president of the United States (here for it).

4. Sterling K. Brown and Aziz Ansari made history too

For his role in the brilliant *This Is Us, *Sterling K. Brown was awarded best TV Lead Actor at the Golden Globes this year, making him the first black actor to win the award in the category.

And Aziz Ansari took home the award for Best Comedy Actor for his performance in *Master of None, *making him the first Asian male actor to win the award. An incredible night of firsts and a mini victory for diversity on some levels, but it'll never not be strange to be celebrating successes that probably should've happened quite a while ago.

5. Natalie Portman threw some first class shade

For everyone wondering how on earth can you follow a speech like Oprah's, the short answer is that well, you can't mate. But Natalie Portman managed to move things on successfully while announcing the nominees for the Best Director category.

'Honored to be here to present the award for Best Director', says Ron Howard. 'And here are the all male nominees', Natalie clarifies. Don't come for Natalie, people. Don't even try it.

6. Lady Bird did really well, as expected

All the buzz about Greta Gerwig's directorial debut isn't without reason, you know. And even though Greta, among many other women, definitely deserved to be nominated in this year's all-male Best Director category (no, we're not letting this one go), Lady Bird did manage to win the awards for Best Picture (Comedy or Musical) and Best Actress went to Saoirse Ronan who stars in the film.

7. 'Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri' won the most, though

They say that the Golden Globes are a good indicator of what to expect from the Oscars and I suppose for one film to pull a La La Land and dominate the majority of big awards, we shouldn't be too surprised if we start hearing the words 'Three Billboards' being muttered all the more frequently.

The film managed to win over favourites *Call Me By Your Name, Dunkirk *and *The Post *to win the Best Picture award, and star Frances McDormand won Best Actress for her performance in the film while co-star Sam Rockwell was awarded Best Supporting Actor and writer-director Martin McDonagh won Best Screenplay.

Curious about the hype? Don't blame you. *Three Billboards *is about a small town in America where, on the route into which, local mother Mildred Heyes (played by Frances) paints three controversial billboards to get the attention of the town's police chief. Why? Because it's been months since Mildred's daughter was murdered and no one has been held accountable yet.

8. Celebs called out the E! Network

You may recall Catt Sadler's departure from *E! *last year. She resigned from her presenting post after finding out about a 'massive pay gap' between herself and male co-host Jason Kennedy.

Over the weekend Amy Schumer posted on Instagram calling for celebrities to question E! over Catt's departure while on the red carpet and four actresses took the opportunity to do just that.

While being interviewed by E! representatives on the red carpet, Debra Messing off of *Will and Grace *pointedly said: 'I was so shocked to hear that E! doesn’t believe in paying their female co-hosts the same as their male co-hosts. I miss Catt Sadler, and we stand with her'.

When Sarah Jessica Parker was being interviewed she slipped in a comment on how gender inequality had 'affected your network', and Laura Dern earlier said: 'We need the powers that be and all the industries and networks and E! to help us with closing this pay gender gap'.

Towards the end of the evening, Eva Longoria, accompanied by enthusiastic nods from Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon, said: 'We support gender equity and equal pay and we hope E! follows that lead with Catt as well. We stand with you Catt'.

9. The meme of the next few weeks was born

If you were wondering which Awards Ceremony GIF would be doing the rounds on the interweb over the next couple of weeks, if it's not relating to queen Oprah, or Greta Gerwig and Soairse Ronan fan-girling each other, it'll be this one right here - courtesy of James Franco.

James won the award for best actor in a musical or comedy for his performance in *The Disaster Artist *which came as a bit of a surprise - more so to some than others...

And when he went on stage to collect the award he took his brother Dave Franco and Tommy Wiseau (who he plays) on stage with him. He just made a bit of a point about not letting Tommy do any of the talking...

MORE: Everyone Who Wore Black To The Golden Globes In Support Of Times Up

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