Hollywood
Golden Globes 2026: Who won and what blew up online
CALIFORNIA: Hollywood’s annual pre-Oscar showcase returned with vengeance, spreading its accolades across film, streaming, and television in a strategic play to keep every major studio competitive heading into awards season.
Paul Thomas Anderson’s counterculture epic One Battle After Another and Netflix’s youth drama Adolescence emerged as the evening’s biggest winners, each claiming four trophies. Anderson secured his first-ever Golden Globe wins with best comedy or musical film, best director, and best screenplay.
Netflix’s Adolescence won best limited series alongside acting prizes for Stephen Graham, Owen Cooper and Erin Doherty. Writer Jack Thorne used his acceptance speech to frame the show as an indictment not of young people but of “the filth and the debris we have laid in their path”.
Big-ticket cinema was not shut out. The Shakespeare-inspired drama Hamnet won best drama film and best actress for Jessie Buckley, with producer Steven Spielberg praising director Chloé Zhao as the only film-maker who could have made it work.
Ryan Coogler’s period horror Sinners demonstrated its commercial might with wins for original score and box-office achievement.
Timothée Chalamet became the youngest winner of best lead actor in a comedy for Marty Supreme, while Rose Byrne took best lead actress in a comedy for the indie hit If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, which she joked was made for $8.50. Brazilian thriller The Secret Agent scored two wins, including best non-English language film and best actor in a drama for Wagner Moura — the first Brazilian to take the prize.
Television saw a generational shake-up. Hospital drama The Pitt won best drama series, with Noah Wyle named best actor, while Apple’s industry satire The Studio took best comedy series and a lead-actor win for Seth Rogen. Rhea Seehorn won best actress in a drama for Pluribus, and Jean Smart claimed her third Globe for HBO’s Hacks.
The ceremony also leaned into politics and culture-war signalling, with several stars wearing anti-ICE pins and the show introducing a new category for best podcast, won by Good Hang with Amy Poehler.
The Golden Globes 2026’s wildest, weirdest and most viral moments
Host Nikki Glaser opened by calling the ceremony “the most important thing happening in the world right now” before firing at targets ranging from George Clooney’s coffee habits to CBS News and the US justice department’s redacted Epstein files. Her Nicole Kidman cinema-ad parody and K-pop singalong kept the ballroom loose and social media buzzing.
Glaser also skewered Leonardo DiCaprio, turning his famously scrutinised dating history into one of the night’s biggest laughs. “The most impressive thing about Leo,” she joked, “is that he managed to do all that before his girlfriend turned 30.” She mock-apologised for the dig, calling it “cheap”, before adding, “But honestly, we don’t know anything else about you. Give us something to work with.”
The night’s emotional centre came early. Teyana Taylor completed the sweep with best supporting actress, delivering one of the night’s most powerful moments when she told “little brown girls watching tonight” that their softness and ambition needs no permission to exist.
A new Globes category — best podcast — also landed with a flourish. Good Hang With Amy Poehler took the inaugural prize, with Poehler wrapping Snoop Dogg in a celebratory hug before joking that NPR should “try harder” than simply letting celebrities phone it in. Backstage, she said her dream listener was Meryl Streep.
Timothée Chalamet became the youngest-ever winner of best lead actor in a comedy for Marty Supreme, raising eyebrows by thanking Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary—a playful nod to the Globes’ tendency to blend prestige with pop culture spectacle.
Netflix’s K-Pop Demon Hunters underlined its status as a commercial juggernaut by winning both best animated film and best song for Golden. The creators said they had simply poured everything they loved into the film and hoped to repeat the trick in a sequel, even if lightning rarely strikes twice.
Elsewhere, steamy TV breakout Heated Rivalry brought its fan-service straight onto the stage as stars Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams teased the audience while presenting, triggering whoops that would have been unthinkable at the Oscars.
Director Judd Apatow supplied the night’s sharpest industry critique, reminding the room that the Globes’ “comedy or musical” category once handed his Trainwreck a loss to The Martian. He joked that while the world had endured Covid and authoritarian drift since then, he was “still pretty focussed on this Martian thing”.
Melissa McCarthy and Kathryn Hahn delivered the slickest comic bit, flipping Hollywood’s gender politics by pretending men were an under-represented minority in film. “It’s about time,” McCarthy deadpanned, “that men finally got a seat at the table.”
Hollywood
Disney sells out ad slots for 98th Oscars broadcast
Strong demand for live events turns the Academy Awards into a global, multi-platform marketing moment
NEW YORK: Hollywood’s biggest night has also become one of advertising’s hottest tickets. Disney has sold out all advertising inventory for the 98th Oscars, underscoring the growing demand from brands eager to ride the cultural wave of major live events.
The sell-out marks the sixth consecutive live tentpole success for Disney Advertising. The streak includes last year’s 97th Oscars, the 59th Annual CMA Awards, and Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest, signalling strong appetite among marketers for moments that bring audiences together in real time.
For advertisers, the Oscars are no longer just a single night of glitz and gold statues. Disney’s “Content Everywhere” strategy has expanded the awards show into a sprawling, multi-platform brand playground spanning linear television, streaming, social media and digital content.
“Live continues to be one of the most powerful ways for brands to connect with engaged audiences at scale, and the Oscars represent the very best of culture, creativity and community,” said Disney Advertising SVP, entertainment and streaming solutions John Campbell. He added that the company has reshaped the show’s commercial potential into a connected experience that stretches well beyond the broadcast.
Brands such as Mazda, Pfizer and Volkswagen of America are tapping into Disney’s wider ecosystem, appearing across original content segments including Know Your Movies on Hulu and Critically Acclaimed on Disney+. Partnerships also extend to social media through TikTok Pulse Premiere and to custom brand storytelling created by Disney CreativeWorks.
The result is what Disney calls the “Oscars Everywhere” approach. Rather than a few high-profile ad breaks, advertisers now find themselves woven through a series of moments before, during and after the ceremony.
These include On The Red Carpet at The Oscars, a live pre-show syndicated across major local markets and streamed nationwide, and the After the Oscars Show, which keeps the conversation going once the final award has been handed out.
This year’s sponsors include Rolex, returning for its ninth year, and Burger King, which joins the Oscars advertiser roster for the first time. Other brands in the mix include Disney Cruise Line, Dunkin’, Eli Lilly and Company, Eucerin, Intuit TurboTax, L’Oréal, McDonald’s, Microsoft, Miebo, Paris Baguette, Peacock, Starbucks, State Farm, Toyota and Verizon.
The 98th Oscars will take place on March 15, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood. The ceremony will be broadcast live on ABC and streamed on Hulu, reaching audiences in more than 200 territories worldwide.
