There’s one celebrity this year’s Golden Globes host may tiptoe around during her monologue.
Comedian Nikki Glaser is returning to host the awards show on Sunday after positive reviews last year, and so far, her prep for the second go-round has taught her that Julia Roberts may be off-limits.
“I’m trying out my monologue around L.A., at the clubs here, and just even any joke about Julia Roberts, they are not there for,” she told Gayle King in a CBS Mornings interview to promote the show Tuesday.
“You cannot make fun of America’s Sweetheart. So, that is my—whatever I end up saying about her, that is the most fine-tuned joke that I’ve worked on so hard, because it is very delicate,” she continued. “I mean, they were booing, and I was like, ‘Is she here?’ I mean, it’s insane.”
Roberts is nominated this year for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture—Drama, for her role in After the Hunt alongside Ayo Edebiri and Andrew Garfield.
Last year, Glaser, known for her brutal celebrity roastings, managed to get laughs in the room and at home on even the most controversial hot topics at the time—including about alleged assassin Luigi Mangione and convicted predator Sean “Diddy” Combs. She kept her roasts of celebrities in the room light at the time and told CBS that she’s going for a similar tone this year.
“You have to be very delicate about making jokes that aren’t going to ruin anyone’s night, but you also want to give the people at home, you know, something to laugh at,” she explained.
“People at home want you to make fun of the A-listers. They want you to make them feel a little bit uncomfortable. So, it’s covert in the sense that I want to get away with those jokes without ruining the vibe in the room,” she continued.
There’s one group of people she finds it “easy” to dunk on, however.
“It’s easy for me to take down the newer batch of actresses and actors who are younger than me,” she said. “It’s like, OK, I can make fun of you. I’m a veteran.”
