Jerrod Carmichael, the host of the Golden Globes, received widespread criticism for his remark regarding late music diva Whitney Houston during the award show’s live airing on Tuesday, January 10, 2023. Following a commercial break, Carmichael said that the producers had asked him to mention the location, the Beverly Hilton Hotel, and joked:
“We’re live from the hotel where Whitney Houston was slain.”
Whitney Houston died on February 11, 2012, at the age of 48, after drowning in the bathtub of the Beverly Hilton Hotel. The coroner then linked her death to heart problems and drug usage. Jerrod Carmichael’s joke attracted gasps from the stunned crowd, and netizens immediately condemned the comic for his crude and offensive humor. This was one of the numerous jokes delivered by the first-time presenter that fell flat, including one about Tom Cruise and the purportedly missing Scientologist Shelly Miscavige.
“Disrespectful and tasteless”: Golden Globes joke on Whitney Houston enrages netizens
The Golden Globe Awards and its organizers, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), have been a source of contention in recent years, which Jerrod Carmichael could not ignore. In his opening monologue, the 35-year-old addressed the HFPA’s diversity difficulties and said that he was picked to host because of his ethnicity, saying, “I’m here because I’m Black, I’ll catch everyone in the room up.”
He went on to say:
“I’m not saying they were a racist group, but they didn’t have a single Black member until George Floyd died, so take what you will from that.”
Carmichael’s hosting was widely panned, and his remark regarding Whitney Houston seemed to be the last straw for many. Audiences slammed the Golden Globes and Carmichael on social media. The 48-year-old singer was discovered dead in her Beverly Hilton apartment on February 11, 2012, after reportedly feasting on drugs and booze for the previous 48 hours. Many saw Jerrod Carmichael’s mention of the 11-year-old event at the Golden Globes as a disrespect to the renowned singer’s memory.
Jerrod all night cause personally the Whitney “joke” was the last strike #GoldenGlobes #GoldenGlobes2023 pic.twitter.com/qdUkjLynXM
— Raven 💌🧸 (@RavenJackson14) January 11, 2023
#JerrodCarmichael
Gives an awkward and unfunny opening monologue.
Tells the audience repeatedly to shut up.
Makes a bad joke about Whitney Houston’s death.
Gets paid half a million dollars for hosting the Golden Globes. pic.twitter.com/eaFrH1rMjf— Darren DeBari Movie Discussion (@DarrenDebari) January 11, 2023
Whitney Houston’s biopic was not nominated for a Golden Globe.
Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody, a biopic directed by Kasi Lemmons and starring Naomi Ackie, was released on December 23, 2022. In supporting roles, Stanley Tucci, Ashton Sanders, Tamara Tunie, Nafessa Williams, and Clarke Peters appeared.
The film received mixed reviews but received no Golden Globe nominations. The biopic’s last scene showed the singer in a hotel bathtub high on narcotics. Due to an excessive amount of visitors expressing their desire to stay in the room in question, it was rendered unavailable for years following the singer’s death. As of 2017, the suit became functional once again, but with all prior furnishings removed, “out of respect to the family and lovers of Whitney,” according to Beverly Hilton.
