Nikki Glaser’s turn as Golden Globes host instantly became the night’s dominant storyline, as a sharp monologue about Hollywood power, Jeffrey Epstein and Leonardo DiCaprio ricocheted across social media. What began as a standard awards-show roast quickly shifted into something more pointed, with one Epstein punchline and a DiCaprio dig crystallizing the tension between celebrity spectacle and public anger over secrecy and abuse.
Her jokes landed in a room already primed by a high-profile ceremony that honored projects like “One Battle After Another” and “Adolescence,” but it was Glaser’s willingness to needle the industry’s blind spots that turned a routine hosting gig into a viral flashpoint.
The Epstein files joke that froze the room and lit up X
Glaser’s most controversial moment came when she pivoted from standard red-carpet ribbing to the unresolved questions around Jeffrey Epstein and the still redacted files tied to his network. Framing the bit as disbelief at the “amount of star power” gathered in the ballroom, she used that setup to demand that someone in that room “release the Jeffrey Epstein files,” a line that fused outrage with punchline and drew a mix of laughs and audible discomfort from the crowd, according to detailed accounts of her monologue. The joke did not name specific alleged associates, but by invoking the files in a room full of studio bosses, agents and A‑listers, she made the industry itself the target.
Viewers at home reacted almost instantly, with clips of the Epstein line spreading across X and TikTok as users debated whether the gag was overdue truth-telling or an inappropriate riff on a trafficking scandal. One viral post captured the split mood, exclaiming, “The Epstein joke was wild,” as fans argued over whether Glaser had gone too far or simply said what others would not, a reaction reflected in coverage that noted how quickly audiences “rushed online” to dissect The Epstein reference. Other reports described viewers as “shocked” that a network telecast allowed a direct nod to documents “heavily redacted” by the Justice Department, underscoring how Glaser’s line cut through the usual awards-show banter to tap into broader frustration over secrecy around the case and its powerful connections, as seen in reactions to the Golden Globes broadcast.
The DiCaprio dig and a room full of targets
If the Epstein line supplied the night’s shock, Glaser’s precision roast of Leonardo DiCaprio delivered its most memeable moment. The comedian, 41, zeroed in on DiCaprio’s long-mocked pattern of dating much younger women, turning to the “One Battle After Another” star and joking that he was probably “dating someone who was not allowed to watch Titanic in theaters,” a barb that played on his age gap reputation while acknowledging his prestige status in the room, according to accounts of how she “dragged” Leonardo. Another recap noted that, addressing “One Battle After Another” star Leonardo DiCaprio directly, Glaser leaned into the bit as part of a series of “celebrity-themed jabs” that defined her tone early in the show, with one write‑up emphasizing how she “addressing” the actor by name helped the joke land as a face‑to‑face challenge rather than a distant quip about One Battle After.
DiCaprio was not the only high-wattage target. Glaser also ribbed Sean Penn and other fixtures of Hollywood, with one recap noting how she told Penn, “My mistake. I love you, you’re amazing,” after a particularly sharp line, a moment that showed her instinct to soften the blow even as she kept the jokes pointed, according to coverage of how Glaser balanced roast and reassurance. Another analysis described how she “went hard then eased up,” particularly when it came to beloved figures like Julia Roberts, observing that in LOS ANGELES she opened Sunday’s show by swinging at CBS and Leo before choosing to “come at it sideways” with some of the more universally adored nominees, a tonal shift captured in reports on Nikki Glaser and her Sunday Golden Globes balancing act.
Skewering CBS, Hollywood and the Globes’ new tone
Glaser’s monologue did not spare the network airing the show, a choice that signaled how far the Golden Globes have moved from their more deferential past. After her Epstein riff, she turned her sights on CBS itself, joking that the broadcaster was more interested in protecting its own interests than in transparency, then urging the Justice Department to “open up” the files, a line that drew a bigger laugh the second time she repeated “Like, there’s nothing else, like open up!” according to a recap that highlighted how the repetition landed with the crowd and how she framed the plea as a direct challenge to both CBS and the Like Justice Department. Another detailed breakdown noted that “Not even CBS, which is airing the ceremony, was given a pass,” pointing out that she folded in a jab at Warner Bros. and then circled back to the Epstein files while scanning the room, tying the joke to the industry’s own complicity and to the actor’s history with drugs referenced elsewhere in the show, as described in coverage of how she targeted CBS and its peers.
Her approach fit a broader reset for the Golden Globes, which have tried to rebrand after years of controversy by embracing hosts willing to puncture the room’s self-importance. Live coverage of the ceremony noted that Nikki Glaser opened the 2026 Golden Gl show with a brisk, joke-dense set that immediately set a more irreverent tone, with commentary teams dissecting how she threaded personal self-deprecation, including a line about feeling like “Frankenstein” pieced together by an “unlicensed European surgeon,” into sharper critiques of Hollywood’s power structure, as recounted in summaries of what she said in her Just “Frankenstein” riff. One live blog described how Jan coverage of the Golden Gl included real-time reactions to her jokes about the night’s big winners, including “One Battle After Another” and “Adolescence,” and how the room’s mix of laughter and winces reflected a ceremony still negotiating its identity, as seen in rolling updates on Here and in a separate segment where Jan coverage showed Stephanie Elam interviewing Glaser on the Globes carpet about her strategy for handling such a combustible room, a moment captured in live Golden Globes updates.
That recalibration extended to the awards themselves. The Golden Globe ceremony honored a slate of film and television standouts, with Jan coverage emphasizing that the Golden Globes were recognizing a wide range of genres and studios, and that the winners list, which included “One Battle After Another” among the night’s most discussed titles, unfolded alongside Glaser’s monologue as part of a single attempt to make the show feel more current and less insular, as detailed in the official Golden Globes rundown. One analysis of the telecast framed Glaser’s performance as “Another Scathing Golden Globes Monologue,” noting that Nikki Glaser Ribs CBS News, Leo and More while scanning the room for reactions to her Epstein material, and arguing that her willingness to needle the very institutions paying her fee is precisely what the Globes now see as their path back to relevance, a point underscored in a write‑up of Nikki Glaser Ribs. Even Jan wire copy from LOS ANGELES stressed that Glaser “went hard then eased up,” a description that captures why her Epstein joke and DiCaprio dig have outlived the acceptance speeches in the public imagination, and why the 2026 Sunday Golden Globes will likely be remembered less for who won than for how the host chose to use the microphone in front of Hollywood.
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