Last night (7 January), the best and brightest of Hollywood gathered to kick off awards season at the 81st annual Golden Globes. Honouring both the big and small screen, the ceremony recognised some of the biggest shows and films of the year, from Beef and The Bear to Barbie and Poor Things.

It didn’t always go exactly to plan – many social media users were critical of host Jo Koy’s jibes – but there were plenty of highlights as our favourite stars finally got the recognition they deserve (Sarah Snook and Lily Gladstone, we’re looking at you.)

From the red carpet to surprise reunions, here are 9 key moments we’re all talking about that you may have missed. 

It was a huge night for everyone’s favourite dysfunctional family The Roys, as HBO’s Succession earned a record-breaking nine nominations for its fourth and final season. In the end, the show topped the TV categories with four wins total, sweeping the lead drama categories with wins for Kieran Culkin and Sarah Snook, as well as Best TV Supporting Actor for Matthew Macfayden and Best Drama Series overall.

Though arguably, Kieran Culkin’s hilarious awkward (and very Roman Roy) acceptance speech was the true highlight. Suck it Pedro (Pascal), indeed.

The Bear’s Ayo Edebiri also scooped her first ever Golden Globe in the Best Performance by a Female Actor on Television – Musical/Comedy Series category, using her acceptance speech to gracefully thank “the people that answer [her] crazy, crazy emails.”

“There’s so many people who I probably forgot to thank – oh my God! Oh my God! All of my agent and managers’ assistants! The people who answer my emails!” she exclaimed to applause and laughter. “Y’all are real ones!” 

Barbenheimer was certainly the box office battle of the year, but Christopher Nolan’s epic Oppenheimer came out on top, scooping Best Motion Picture, Best Director and Best Score.

For the titular role, Cillian Murphy won Best Performance by a Male Actor, with Robert Downing Jr going home with the Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role gong. 

The Holdovers star Da’Vine Joy Randolph beat the likes of Jodie Foster and Julianne Moore for best female actor in a supporting role, describing the award as an “absolute dream”.

Randolph added that her character Mary Lamb, a cook and grieving mother at the fictional Barton Academy, has “changed my life - you have made me feel seen in so many ways that I’ve never imagined, and I hope I’ve helped you all find your inner Mary. Because there’s a little bit of her in all of us.”

From La La Land’s Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling to The Hunger Games’ Jennifer Lawrence and Lenny Kravitz, there were plenty of film reunions on and off the red carpet that had fans excited on social media, but none more than a fleeting but glorious hug between Mamma Mia!’s Amanda Seyfried and Meryl Streep.

The two briefly passed one another on the red carpet and very excitedly embraced, and once again our hopes began to soar for a third installment of the hit film. We can only hope, right?

After winning best performance by a female actor in a motion picture drama for her role in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, Lily Gladstone became the first Indigenous actor to win a Golden Globe. Starting her acceptance speech in the Blackfeet language (spoken by the Blackfoot or Niitsitapi people,) she went on to call out the Hollywood practice of faking Native language in movies by running the recordings of actors delivering their lines in English backward. 

“This is for every little rez kid,” she said at the end of her speech, dedicating her Golden Globe to “every little Native kid out there who has a dream.”

Beef co-stars Ali Wong and Steven Yeun made history as the first actors of Asian descent to take home a Golden Globe in their categories of best actor in a limited series.

It also marked the first Golden Globe nomination for the comedian, who has received critical acclaim in the past for her Netflix standup specials, including the 2022 special Ali Wong: Don Wong.

If you’ve already seen Emerald Fennell’s psychosexual thriller Saltburn, you’ll know exactly what we’re on about. If not, we advise you to proceed with caution when watching to find out(beware that it’s NSFW to say the least).

But as it turns out, not only is the bath water scene one of the most talked about of the decade, it’s now the accessory of the moment with the likes of Margot Robbie and the film’s star Rosamund Pike posing with it on the red carpet. We’re amused, we’re a bit grossed out, but ultimately we don’t know how to feel about it all…

Images: Getty