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Activism At The 75th Golden Globes Went Beyond Black Dresses

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Last night at the Golden Globes, it was all about women working in Hollywood and elsewhere. The host of the awards show, Seth Meyers, really set the tone in his monologue.

(SOUNDBITE OF 75TH GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS CEREMONY)

SETH MEYERS: It's 2018. Marijuana is finally allowed and sexual harassment finally isn't.

(APPLAUSE)

GREENE: Seth Meyers made a few jokes about the disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein and also actor Kevin Spacey. But as NPR's Mandalit del Barco reports, the women who won awards last night did most of the talking.

MANDALIT DEL BARCO, BYLINE: Women made bold statements, even before the ceremony on the red carpet. They wore black gowns and buttons supporting Time's Up, a Hollywood movement to fight sexual harassment. The founder of the #MeToo movement, Tarana Burke, came as a guest of actress Michelle Williams. Other A-listers invited activists who fight for equal pay and opportunities for women. TV actress Debra Messing even called out cable channel E! during a live interview on the network.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "E! LIVE FROM THE RED CARPET")

DEBRA MESSING: You know, I was so shocked to hear that E! doesn't believe in paying their female co-hosts the same as their male co-hosts. I mean...

DEL BARCO: Empowering women to speak their truth was the theme throughout the ceremony as winner after winner gave their speeches.

(SOUNDBITE OF 75TH GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS CEREMONY)

REESE WITHERSPOON: I want to thank everyone who broke their silence this year and spoke up about abuse and harassment. You are so brave.

DEL BARCO: Actress and producer Reese Witherspoon had encouraged others to wear black. She accepted one of the four awards the HBO series "Big Little Lies" won.

(SOUNDBITE OF 75TH GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS CEREMONY)

WITHERSPOON: People out there who are feeling silenced by harassment, discrimination, abuse - time is up. We see you, we hear you, and we will tell your stories.

DEL BARCO: The film "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" also picked up four Golden Globes. Frances McDormand won a best actress award for her performance as a grief-stricken mother seeking justice.

(SOUNDBITE OF 75TH GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS CEREMONY)

FRANCES MCDORMAND: I keep my politics private. But I - it was really great to be in this room tonight and to be a part of the tectonic shift in our industry's power structure.

DEL BARCO: Barbra Streisand presented "Three Billboards" with the best picture drama award. And in doing so, she slammed the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for not honoring more women filmmakers. She noted that she's the only woman to have won a Golden Globe Award for best director in 1984.

(SOUNDBITE OF 75TH GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS CEREMONY)

BARBRA STREISAND: That was 34 years ago. Folks, time's up.

(APPLAUSE)

DEL BARCO: There was one man who did make history last night - Sterling K. Brown from the NBC series "This Is Us." He became the first African-American actor to win in the best actor category in a TV drama. He thanked his family and the show's creator, Dan Fogelman.

(SOUNDBITE OF 75TH GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS CEREMONY)

STERLING K. BROWN: Dan Fogelman, you wrote a role for a black man, like, that could only be played by a black man. And so what I appreciate so much about this thing is that I'm being seen for who I am and being appreciated for who I am. And it makes it that much more difficult to dismiss me or dismiss anybody who looks like me. So thank you, Dan.

DEL BARCO: And it was a black woman who made history for her lifetime achievement award. Oprah Winfrey brought the audience to tears and to its feet in standing ovations last night. She began by talking about what it was like as a little girl to watch actor Sidney Poitier win an Oscar in 1964.

(SOUNDBITE OF 75TH GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS CEREMONY)

OPRAH WINFREY: I remember his tie was white and, of course, his skin was black. And I'd never seen a black man being celebrated like that. And I have tried many, many, many times to explain what a moment like that means to a little girl, a kid watching from the cheap seats as my mom came through the door bone-tired from cleaning other people's houses.

DEL BARCO: Winfrey noted that Poitier also want to see Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1982.

(SOUNDBITE OF 75TH GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS CEREMONY)

WINFREY: And it is not lost on me that at this moment there are some little girls watching as I become the first black woman to be given the same award.

(APPLAUSE)

DEL BARCO: Winfrey said she was proud of and inspired by women who have shared their stories in Hollywood and beyond.

(SOUNDBITE OF 75TH GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS CEREMONY)

WINFREY: Speaking your truth is the most powerful tool we all have. So I want tonight to express gratitude to all the women who have endured years of abuse and assault because they, like my mother, had children to feed and bills to pay and dreams to pursue.

(APPLAUSE)

DEL BARCO: Winfrey cited not just Hollywood women but domestic workers, farm workers, women in academia, in politics and business. She had a message for them and for all the little girls watching her.

(SOUNDBITE OF 75TH GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS CEREMONY)

WINFREY: That a new day is on the horizon.

DEL BARCO: Even before she finished her speech, Twitter erupted with calls for Oprah Winfrey to run for president in 2020. Mandalit del Barco, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF QUINCY JONES' "FIRST LETTER") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

As an arts correspondent based at NPR West, Mandalit del Barco reports and produces stories about film, television, music, visual arts, dance and other topics. Over the years, she has also covered everything from street gangs to Hollywood, police and prisons, marijuana, immigration, race relations, natural disasters, Latino arts and urban street culture (including hip hop dance, music, and art). Every year, she covers the Oscars and the Grammy awards for NPR, as well as the Sundance Film Festival and other events. Her news reports, feature stories and photos, filed from Los Angeles and abroad, can be heard on All Things Considered, Morning Edition, Weekend Edition, Alt.latino, and npr.org.