This will be Nikki Glaser's second time hosting the Golden Globes. Photo: AFP
The Golden Globes are fast approaching, and Nikki Glaser is struggling to find a Julia Roberts joke.
"She’s been the toughest nut to crack,” Glaser, who's hosting the upcoming Globes, said with a determined laugh. "But I’m going to crack it.”
The comedian got the hosting gig last year after showing her skill at ruthlessly roasting celebrities. She got raves for her monologue. She brought out the knives, but they weren’t overly sharp. She was promptly asked back.
The monologue will be a shape-shifting monster until the moment the CBS telecast starts and she takes the stage at the Beverly Hilton, ideally with a bit ready for Roberts, who's nominated for best actress in a drama for After The Hunt. She'll be sitting in front of Glaser with her star-powered charm.
"I just want to do the perfect joke but it’s like people do not have a sense of humour about Julia Roberts,” Glaser said in an interview with The Associated Press. "She’ll be fine - other people are not fine on her behalf. Like the most innocent joke about her that I made a couple times trying it out, they booed, they were like jeering.”
For others, Glaser is confident in her material, and their ability to take it, including the men in the absurdly star-studded best actor categories:
Timothée Chalamet. Photo: AP
- She’ll get another shot at Timothée Chalamet, nominated last year for playing Bob Dylan and this year for Marty Supreme: "Timothée, he’s great. He knows how to handle it,” she said. Last year, she told a mustachioed Chalamet: "You have the most gorgeous eyelashes - on your upper lip.”
- She’ll get her first chance to poke at George Clooney, nominated for Jay Kelly: "George Clooney’s going to be exciting to just have any kind of interaction with. I think he’s such a good sport,” she said. "He's down for it.’”
- She's says she's excited about her stuff on Sinners nominee Michael B. Jordan.
- And what about Leonardo DiCaprio, representing awards season powerhouse One Battle After Another? "Leo? Leo, yeah, Leo. We’re going to hit Leo,” she said. "The icebergs are coming. Watch out.”
Glaser spoke to the AP while wearing a gown and fur coat on a mock New York street at a CBS studio lot where she's prepping.
But the real preparation has been happening at Southern California's comedy clubs.
"I’ve been running the jokes constantly,” she said. "I live and die by those crowds. They really tell me what to keep and what not to. Things that I think will kill will just be nothing and things that I think are just a throwaway are like the best joke.”
Images of nominees and presenters are pictured during the press preview for the 83rd Golden Globes on Jan 8, 2026, at the Beverly Hilton in California. Photo: AP
She shares one that she dumped.
"I was going to make a joke about Pluribus where I said like, ‘Have you seen it? Pluribly not.’” she said. "But we could not find a place for ‘pluribly not’ and so that one is in the graveyard. Probably rightfully so.”
Because the monologue is directed, roast-style, at the people in the Globes crowd, the comedy club audience has to play celebrity roles.
She’ll ask them, "'Will you play Julia Roberts for me?' You know, like it is, it’s strange, but I kind of just set it up. Like I’m hosting the Golden Globes. They’re usually very excited about that.”
Like every awards show host, she's wary that some major current event will upend everything. During the past weekend, she thought she certainly would have to talk about Venezuela onstage. Now she thinks maybe not.
"You can’t even anticipate things a week away as being relevant enough,” she said. "You’d be surprised that half the room had no clue why I was saying ‘Venezuela.’ People aren’t getting the news like we all are.”
What the stars will dine on during the awards ceremony. This special menu is curated by Japanese celebrity chef Nobu Matsuhisa. Photo: Reuters
Last year's version of the Julia Roberts problem was Wicked, and finding a joke that rode the line between meanness and affection. It took a long time, but she and the two friends she writes with found it.
"It ended up being perfect. I loved it,” she said, repeating the line. "'My boyfriend loved it, my boyfriend’s boyfriend loved it.' Perfect Wicked joke. Wasn’t too mean, just celebrated the gayness.” – AP
Live telecast of the 83rd Annual Golden Globes airs Jan 12 on Hits Now (Astro Ch 702). Red carpet starts at 8am followed by awards presentation at 9am.
