LOS ANGELES • The red carpet is rolling out, the champagne is on ice and the statuettes are about to be handed over.
But with a cloud of sexual harassment hanging over Hollywood, the Golden Globes ceremony (on Monday morning, Singapore time) will be more keenly watched than before, marking the first test of how the industry will handle the scandal.
Celebrities and film-makers who were once major players during the awards season have been shunned, written out of shows or snubbed in nominations.
Women are planning to wear black on the red carpet to signal support for the victims.
A major talent agency has cancelled its annual Golden Globes party to instead fund legal defence for the victims. And the Screen Actors Guild Awards later this month will feature all female presenters.
"Everyone I have been talking to is relishing the opportunity to make this kind of visibility and attention more meaningful than simply about the glorification of a single profession," said actress Michelle Williams, who is Golden Globe-nominated for All The Money In The World.
Emily Gordon, screenwriter for movie The Big Sick, said: "I always saw this awards season as a perfect little bubble where everything is magical and beautiful because it's the movies. I think what we're realising now is that it has its own issues that it has to work on."
All eyes will be on host Seth Meyers and how he navigates what is traditionally a boozy celebration and the elephant in the room.
"He's got an impossible job. He can't ignore the hot button issue in Hollywood. He's expected to lead a joke-athon but it's not a laughing matter," said Mr Tom O'Neil, founder of awards website Gold Derby.com.
Meyers said on Thursday that he would tackle the issue.
"Fingers crossed, we meet the right tone, but that's certainly our goal.
"A great thing about the Globes is that people use it as a platform and I don't think this year will be any different."
But who will do or say what, exactly, on the night?
"I think they are all very nervous," said Mr Pete Hammond, awards columnist for Deadline.com.
REUTERS
