NO LAUGHING MATTER: Nikki Glaser Didn’t Want to Reduce Politics, ICE, Trump to Jokes at Golden Globes
Estimated reading time: 4 min
Nikki Glaser and the Golden Globes 2026: A candid approach to political punchlines
Nikki Glaser’s second go at hosting the Golden Globes wasn’t completely devoid of political punchlines. Early in the awards show, she quipped, “The Golden Globe for best editing goes to … the Justice Department!” Her sarcastic jab targeted the redacted Epstein list and was followed by a jab at Bari Weiss’ CBS News, despite the Globes airing on CBS. “The award for most editing goes to CBS News,” she said. “America’s newest place to see B.S. news.” She had more planned, including cracks at Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Donald Trump, but decided against including them.
“It’s not funny,” Glaser said on The Howard Stern Show about using politics as comedy material. She had planned a joke about hating ICE, but scrapped it. “I was going to come in at some point and say, ‘I’m hearing from the bar that we’re out of ice. And you know, we don’t really need ice. And actually, I hate ice,” she said. “It just felt like, oh, even that’s just being too trivial.”
A few days before the 2026 Golden Globes broadcast, a masked ICE agent in Minneapolis fatally shot Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother of three.
“That’s what it felt like — this isn’t even that anymore,” Glaser continued. “It’s hard to strike the right tone.” She also decided that a bit about the recent vote to rename the Kennedy Center after Trump wasn’t tonally appropriate. The line was originally sent to her by actor Steve Martin and involved her joking that she’d arrived to the “Trump Beverly Hilton” for the Golden Globes after a visit to the “Trump Kennedy Center.” Martin agreed it should be left out. “It was like, you just don’t say that guy’s name right now,” Glaser said. “I just want to give it space.”
The rest of the broadcast went off (mostly) without a hitch. “Glaser returned to host this year’s bash, kicking off the 2026 TV awards-show season,” Rolling Stone wrote in a review of the night. “She truly understands what the Golden Globes are all about: vanity, glitz, booze, celebrities desperate for camera time, cheap jokes about plastic surgery.”
Context note: The piece situates the decision within the broader dynamics of live television, where humor must navigate real-world consequences and audience sensitivity.
Planned lines that were cut
Glaser had more material planned, including jabs at Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Donald Trump, but chose to omit them to preserve the show’s tone.
Tone and timing considerations
“That’s what it felt like — this isn’t even that anymore,” she said. The piece notes that “It’s hard to strike the right tone” when real-world events cast a shadow over punchlines.
Post-show takeaway
Rolling Stone observed that Glaser understands what the Globes are about—vanity, glitz, booze, celebrities desperate for camera time, and cheap jokes about plastic surgery—while acknowledging the limits of political humor in live tv. For readers, the practical takeaway is to consider audience sensitivity and to have backup material ready that lands when the moment is right.
Source: https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-news/nikki-glaser-cut-jokes-politics-ice-trump-golden-globes-1235499014/
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