Golden Globes ceremony host Ricky Gervais (Golden Globe Awards / © HFPA)
"I like a drink as much as the next man … unless the next man is Mel Gibson," said Ricky Gervais as he introduced Gibson, who, until he began working on his latest vehicle, the thriller Edge of Darkness, had kept pretty much to himself since his drunken driving to-do a few years back. (Not counting his tabloidized — and very expensive — divorce.) Some found Gervais' joke daring (though not daring enough), but according to Nikki Finke's Deadline Hollywood, Gervais called Gibson beforehand to make sure it was okay. Gibson gave the Golden Globes' host his consent.
Finke adds that Gibson was much less agreeable when Sam Rubin, of the Los Angeles television station KTLA, asked him about his time away from the screen since the drunken driving incident and his widely reported anti-Semitic tirades. Gibson leaned forward in an aggressive manner, saying, "I gather you have a dog in this fight. … Do you have a dog in this fight?" Rubin is Jewish. (You can watch a clip from the interview here.)
"The winner for Most Incoherent Speech," wrote Richard Corliss in Time, "would have to go to Drew Barrymore, whose thank-you — in recognition for her work in the HBO mini-series Grey Gardens — was a ditsy dither that seemed to channel both Sarah and Michael Palin."
No one, however, could accuse best actor (television movie or miniseries) Kevin Bacon (below) of having made an incoherent speech, which included a thank-you to the family of the subject of the HBO drama, Taking Chance. Backstage, when asked about the Haiti earthquake Bacon remarked, “You feel weird, you feel guilty putting on your monkey suit. But on the flip side, it’s good to come out to talk about it.”
Click on the photos to enlarge them.
Kevin Bacon (Golden Globe Awards / © HFPA)
I am so happy for Kevin Bacon, and yes, he has a great way with words…his own and those he delivers when acting. He has a rockin band (The Bacon Brothers) and he writes more than half of their songs. They are definitely worth checking out!