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
Paramount eyes $24bn Gulf support to fund Warner Bros Discovery merger: Reports
Sovereign funds line up funding as media giants chase streaming scale
NEW YORK: Paramount Skydance is in talks to secure nearly $24 billion in equity commitments from Gulf sovereign wealth funds to support its planned takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, according to a WSJ report.
The funding push comes as Paramount Skydance advances its proposed $110 billion deal for Warner Bros. Discovery, which carries an equity valuation of $81 billion and is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026.
At the heart of the financing plan are three major Gulf investors. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is expected to contribute roughly $10 billion, while the Qatar Investment Authority and Abu Dhabi-based L’imad Holding are likely to make up the remainder.
Crucially, the proposed investments are structured as non-voting stakes. This means the Gulf backers would not have direct control in the combined entity, a move designed to ease regulatory concerns in the United States. Paramount executives reportedly do not expect the deal to trigger scrutiny from bodies such as the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States or the Federal Communications Commission.
If completed, the merger would bring together a formidable portfolio of entertainment and news assets, including CNN and CBS. The combined entity aims to better compete in a fast-evolving media landscape where streaming platforms are steadily pulling audiences away from traditional television.
The deal reflects a broader shift in global media, where scale is increasingly seen as essential to survive the streaming wars. By pooling content libraries, technology and distribution, Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery are betting on size and synergy to drive future growth.
The involvement of deep-pocketed Gulf investors also underscores the growing role of sovereign wealth in shaping global media consolidation, particularly at a time when high-value deals demand equally large financial backing.
With shareholder votes and regulatory milestones still ahead, the proposed tie-up remains one of the most closely watched media deals of the year. If it clears the final hurdles, it could redraw the competitive map of the global entertainment industry.
