Hans Zimmer is not the type to quietly accept it when music gets sidelined, and the Golden Globes just found that out the hard way. After producers pulled Best Original Score from the live CBS broadcast, the composer said the move “feels a little bit ignorant,” arguing that cutting the category undercuts the people who help give films their emotional spine. His frustration landed on a night when the score race was unusually stacked, which only sharpened the sense that something important had been pushed offstage.
The decision to relegate the award to an off-air moment turned what should have been a celebration of film music into a flashpoint about how the industry values behind-the-scenes work. Zimmer’s comments, delivered as the Globes tried to juggle time constraints and spectacle, tapped into a broader unease among viewers already annoyed by odd programming choices and clunky attempts at viral moments. Instead of quietly trimming a “technical” category, the show ended up spotlighting exactly how central those crafts are.
Zimmer’s “ignorant” call-out and what composers say is at stake
From Zimmer’s perspective, the problem is not just hurt feelings, it is the message that cutting Best Original Score sends about who matters in the room. In his remarks, captured under the blunt banner Hans Zimmer Says, he described the decision as something that “feels a little bit ignorant,” a choice that treats music as expendable when the show runs long. He has spent decades scoring blockbusters and prestige dramas, so when he says you “don’t have a movie” without the composers who shape its sound, it lands as more than just a bruised ego.
Zimmer has been even more explicit in other comments, calling it a “shame” that the Globes would not air the category and urging organizers not to “ignore” the people who stay up all night finishing cues while directors are still tweaking edits. In one interview, he framed it as a basic respect issue, noting that “everybody who works on a film works their utmost, doesn’t get any sleep, doesn’t see their families, hasn’t been home for months,” a plea that was echoed in coverage of his “shame” comments. Ahead of the ceremony on Sunday, he was already warning that sidelining the category would send the wrong signal, and his stance was laid out in detail in a piece that tracked how, ahead of the, he tried to push organizers to rethink the plan.
How the Globes cut the category while the score race delivered
The Globes’ decision was not a rumor or a misunderstanding. Earlier in the week, organizers confirmed that the presentation of Best Original Score at the Golden Globes would not be part of the CBS telecast, citing time constraints and the need to streamline the show. The award would still be handed out, but viewers at home would not see it, a choice spelled out in reporting on how Best Original Score from the broadcast. For composers who already feel like they live in the shadows of actors and directors, being bumped for pacing reasons only reinforced the sense that their work is treated as filler.
That sting was sharper because the category itself was unusually competitive. The lineup included Alexandre Desplat for “Frankenstein,” Ludwig Göransson for “Sinners,” Jonny Greenwood for “One Battle A…,” Max Richter for “Hamnet,” and Hans Zimmer for “F1: The Movie,” a slate laid out in the complete list of Best original score contenders. In the end, Ludwig Göransson walked away with the Golden Globe Awards for Sinners, beating out Alexandre Despla and the rest of the field, a result highlighted in coverage of how Ludwig Göransson secured the win. For viewers who care about film music, the idea that this particular race was deemed expendable only underscored Zimmer’s argument that the priorities are upside down.
Backlash, odd broadcast choices, and a growing perception problem
Zimmer was not alone in thinking the Globes had misread the room. Coverage of his reaction described how he “slammed” the last minute decision, with one account noting that the change was announced on a Friday and left nominees feeling blindsided after months of work, a frustration captured in reports that Hans Zimmer slams the move. Another detailed how he called out the Globes for treating composers as an afterthought and described the cut as a last minute change to the ceremony, with last-minute frustration building among music departments across the industry. Even in the Comments Section of fan forums, users like mcfw31, tagged as a Top 1% Poster, were amplifying his quotes and arguing that the Globes had misjudged what audiences actually care about.
At the same time, the broadcast was making room for moments that did air, and not all of them landed. One segment saw a Rapper censored during the live Golden Globes show after joking, “I’m high as a motherf—er right now,” then telling producers to “Loosen up a little bit,” a clash with standards that was recapped in coverage of the Rapper onstage. Viewers were also left scratching their heads over a “random” and “forced” UFC cameo, with one report by Caitlin Hornik noting that complaints poured in as the Golden Globes broadcast (CBS) unfolded and flagging a specific figure of 34 in the reaction metrics, a detail tucked into Caitlin Hornik’s account. When the show has time for awkward cross-promotion and bleep-heavy bits but not for a major creative award, Zimmer’s charge that cutting the score category “feels ignorant” starts to sound less like hyperbole and more like a diagnosis of a ceremony that still has not figured out what, or who, it is really honoring.
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