Nikki Glaser revealed the one A-Lister that she doesn’t dare to roast when she returns as host of the Golden Globe Awards on Sunday.
The 41-year-old comedian, who became the first woman to host the awards ceremony solo last year, was tapped as emcee again after earning overwhelmingly positive reviews for her debut.
During a Tuesday appearance on “CBS Mornings,” Glaser shed some light on what the awards attendees and viewers can expect from her performance this year. She explained that she has been testing her material for the upcoming show at some of her stand-up gigs and admitted that there was one star that she would avoid mocking.
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“I’m trying out my monologue around LA at the clubs here and just even any joke about Julia Roberts, they are not there for,” she said.
“You cannot make fun of America’s sweetheart,” she continued. “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.”
“I mean, they were booing, and I was like, ‘Is she here?’” Glaser added. “It’s insane.”
“Nikki, Julia is everywhere,” “CBS Mornings” host Gayle King said.
“Yeah, she’s all around us always,” Glaser agreed.
King noted that Glaser had contacted some celebrities last year for their input regarding jokes she planned to make about them and asked if she had reached out to anyone this year.
“Not yet, but I was wondering if anyone there had Sean Penn’s number because I would like to get his approval,” she said with a laugh. “Last year I was able to reach out to Benny Blanco. I had a friend of a friend who knew him and he seemed like someone I could kind of cold text, but I don’t even know if Leo [DiCaprio] has a phone.”
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“There’s certain people that I don’t even know what I would say,” Glaser continued. “It’s almost like some of these jokes you think about, ‘OK, if I got their number, would I write them and ask them?’ And then I go, ‘You know what, they might say no.’ And I know the joke isn’t that mean. I would rather ask for forgiveness later at the after party when they’re drunk.”
The “Trainwreck” actress explained that she viewed the Golden Globes hosting gig as a “covert mission” since she has to please both the viewers at home and the stars in the audience at the ceremony.
“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 something to laugh at, and you want to poke fun at the people that they’re dying for you to make fun of,” she said. “Like people at home want you to make fun of the A-listers.”
“They want you to make them feel a little bit uncomfortable,” Glaser added. “So, it’s covert in the sense that I want to get away with those jokes without just ruining the vibe in the room. So, it’s really strategic, and it’s one of the most difficult jobs I’ve ever had is picking the perfect jokes.”
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Glaser has previously participated in several celebrity roasts, including those of Rob Lowe, Bruce Willis and Tom Brady and she has become known for her scathing jabs and fearless takedowns. The comedian was hailed as one of the standout performers at Brady’s roast in May 2024, which significantly raised her profile and led to her selection as the Golden Globes host for the 2025 awards show.
During her appearance on “CBS Mornings,” Glaser noted that her approach to performing at a roast differed from how she handles Golden Globes hosting duties.
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“I leave the mean for the roast,” she said. “I think people have known me as like, ‘Wow, she tells really mean jokes.’ I really save that for the roast because that’s the place to do them. People have signed up for that.”
“This, I feel like, I don’t know, I am a huge fan of these people, and this year’s a little bit different because we have so like many huge A-listers that I grew up kind of really admiring, and it’s easy for me to take down the newer batch of actresses and actors who are younger than me,” Glaser explained.
“It’s like ‘OK, I can make fun of you. I’m like a veteran,'” she continued. “But when it’s like people that I grew up admiring, it’s ‘Oh my gosh.’”
“It’s a different approach this year.”
