In the first of such grand award ceremonies in 2024, celebrities at the Golden Globes Awards did not address the dire ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, sparking criticism on social media.
On January 7, Hollywood kick-started the awards season with the 2024 Golden Globes Awards. Amid celebrity glamour and Barbenheimer craze, the star-studded red carpet saw some celebrities wearing a yellow ribbon to show support for the roughly 130 hostages being held by Hamas – while conveniently failing to address the killing of over 21,000 people in Gaza amid Israel’s war on the region.
While Israel has vowed to continue its offensive until Hamas is completely wiped out, the costs are being paid by Palestinians. The region is completely cut off from the rest of the world. In the past, award ceremonies like the Globes have been used by celebrities to show support for or bring attention to causes like the global refugee crisis, Ukraine war, and Black Lives Matter movement among others. These concerns have also made their way into people’s acceptance speeches.
But in the first of such grand award ceremonies in 2024, celebrities at the Golden Globes Awards did not address the dire ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, sparking criticism on social media.
J. Smith-Cameron of Succession and John Ortiz of American Fiction were among some of the attendees who were spotted wearing a yellow ribbon on the red carpet on January 7.
The Yellow Ribbon has adapted different meanings across time and in different parts of the world. It is traditionally used to signify sarcoma or bone cancer which affects the bones or connective tissues of the body. In the US and the UK, yellow ribbons are increasingly used as a general symbol of support for soldiers fighting abroad.
During the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, the yellow ribbon was used as a symbol of support for the hostages held at the United States embassy in Tehran. Some have also traced the tradition back to the popular song "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree", Written by Irwin Levine and L. Russell Brown and recorded by Tony Orlando and Dawn (among many others), – wherein the ribbon is tied around a tree as a welcome sign for a released prisoner from his wife or lover.
Amid Israel’s war on Gaza, the yellow ribbon has come to signify support for the Israeli hostages taken by Hamas on October 7. Even before the Globes Awards, Jewish Communities in Bermuda started a yellow ribbon campaign to stand with the hostages taken by Hamas.
In the days leading up to the Globes Awards, an Israeli hostage advocacy organization ‘Bring Them Home’ was working behind the scenes to supply yellow ribbons to industry attendees, as reported by Hollywood Reporter. (The ‘Bring Them Home’ forum is a volunteer-based organisation that ‘advances the ongoing efforts to bring hostages taken by Hamas back home to their families’.)
However, there was no mention of the escalating war on Gaza, which has brought haunting visuals of families losing their loved ones, children stuck under the rubble and babies wrapped in tin foil in incubators inside hospitals, to social media.
“Watched some of the Golden Globes last night. At no point did anyone make any mention of Israel or Palestine. Sad to see how much an art industry we love so dearly the world is unable to put its humanity on full display due to the very nature of its mechanisms and power,” a user said on X, previously Twitter, echoing sentiments of Palestinians in Gaza, who have been trapped in the region without food, water and any form of aid.
One award ceremony has stood out and been recognised as “the most political ceremony in Academy history,” by the New York Times, even as recently as 2019. It was the 1978 Oscars when left-wing actress Vanessa Redgrave won the award for Best Supporting Actress for her role of an anti-Nazi fighter in Julia.
The actress and human rights activist Vanessa Redgrave has campaigned for peace and justice in the Middle East for nearly 30 years as a guest of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. The year before she won an Oscar, Redgrave narrated the film The Palestinian (1977) that documents the lives and the struggle of the Palestinian people. She reportedly sold two houses to raise funds for the making of the documentary.
When she was nominated for the award, Jewish groups including Jewish Defence League (JDL) reportedly threatened the members of the Academy with repercussions if they voted for Redgrave, citing her support for the Palestinian people and the documentary. But it was termed as a win for the Academy too when Redgrave was voted Best Supporting Actress despite the violent threats.
She used her speech to thank the audience and said, “You should be very proud that in the last few weeks you have stood firm and you have refused to be intimidated by the threats of a small bunch of Zionist hoodlums whose behavior is an insult to the stature of Jews all over the world, and to their great and heroic record of struggle against fascism and oppression.” Her statement brought gasps and booes from the audience. In the years after, Redgrave has maintained that she doesn't regret what she said and has called for the boycott of the State of Israel, and expressed support for the PLO.
Meanwhile, at the Golden Globes this year, there was one instance wherein a celebrity spoke up for Gaza on the red carpet.
The Crown's Khalid Abdalla wore a dove pin in support of a ceasefire in Gaza. “The dove is made in Bethlehem. Today marks three months of unfathomable death and destruction. We need this to end. The first step must be a permanent ceasefire,” he said in a post on X on Sunday.
The dove, with its olive branch, is a symbol of peace. A similar dove is part of Banksy’s artwork. The art, with the dove’s chest in the crosshairs of a weapon, portrays the vulnerability of the Palestinians.
At last year’s Golden Globe awards, Ukraine President Zelensky made a virtual appearance during which he recalled the start of the Golden Globes in 1944.
"The second World War wasn't over yet, but the tide was turned, all knew who would win. There were still battles and tears ahead, it was then when the Golden Globes awards appeared to honor the best performers of 1943.
It is now 2023 the war in Ukraine is not over yet but the tide is turning. And it is already clear who will win. There are still battles and tears ahead, but now I can definitely tell you who are the best in the previous year, it was you. The free people of the free world. Those who united around the support of the free Ukrainian people in our common struggle for freedom," he said, followed by applause from the audience.
But this year, Khalid Abdalla was perhaps the only one on the red carpet who made a statement against Israel’s war on Gaza.