Filmmaker Judd Apatow made a startling revelation during his appearance as a presenter at the recent Golden Globe Awards ceremony, disclosing a nearly decade-long personal boycott of the prestigious event. The director behind the 2015 comedy “Trainwreck” confessed to maintaining what he described as a “very quiet boycott” since 2016, when his film lost the Best Comedy award to Ridley Scott’s “The Martian.”
Apatow’s unexpected return to the Golden Globes stage became a moment of both humor and candor as he addressed the audience. “This is very surprising that I am here, because I’ve been boycotting the ceremony for about 10 years,” Apatow stated, adding wryly that his protest had gone largely unnoticed within the industry.
The director specifically highlighted his ongoing “beef” with the awards organization since the 2016 ceremony, where he believed a genuine comedy lost to a film he considered outside the genre. Apatow delivered a pointed yet humorous critique by referencing Scott’s filmography, naming “Gladiator,” “Blade Runner,” and “Alien” as examples of what he jokingly called “hilarious comedies” from America’s “favorite comedy director.”
The revelation came during a ceremony that saw unexpected winners in the comedy categories, including “One Battle After Another” and “Hamnet”—the latter being a historical drama about William Shakespeare that Apatow referenced with additional sarcasm regarding its classification as comedy material.
The incident highlights ongoing debates within the entertainment industry about award categorization and the subjective nature of artistic recognition, while demonstrating how personal professional disappointments can resonate through Hollywood careers for years.