Nikki Glaser has admitted her joke about Benny Blanco at the Golden Globe awards was “mean” but she asked his permission first.
Nikki Glaser has admitted she was “mean” to Benny Blanco at the Golden Globe awards.
The 40-year-old comic hosted the ceremony in January and she couldn’t resist poking fun at the producer and his relationship with Selena Gomez – who was nominated for awards for her work on ‘Emilia Perez’ and ‘Only Murders in the Building’ – but she knows the gag wasn’t particularly kind.
At the ceremony, she said during her opening monologue: “Selena Gomez is here with Benny Blanco, her new fiancé, and Benny Blanco is here because of the genie who granted him that wish.”
Looking back, Nikki admitted during the TIME100 Summit on Wednesday (23.04.25): “The Golden Globes, I feel like the one joke that I would’ve been like, ‘That was kind of mean,’ was, I said that Selena Gomez is here because of Emilia Pérez and Benny Blanco is here because the genie granted him that one wish and looking back, I was like that was pretty mean.
“Because everyone’s like he’s not attractive enough for her and for me, I never looked at them and actually thought that. I feel like she won too with it, like I think he’s really cool.”
The ‘Fboy Island’ host insisted the joke didn’t come from a “mean place” and she even sought the couple’s blessing before including it in her Golden Globes monologue.
She said: “I texted him before, too. I got his number and was like, ‘Hey, you don’t know me, but I’m hosting this thing. Can I say that you’re there because a genie granted you a wish?’
“He was like, “That’s hilarious, let me run it by Selena,” and I was like ‘Hell yeah,’ and then we were all waiting in the writer’s room like, ‘When is he going to write?’ and he wrote back and was like, ‘Selena thinks it’s great.’
“So they gave me permission.”
Nikki explained fellow comedian Jimmy Kimmel – who has previously hosted the Emmy Awards three times and the Oscars four times – had advised her to take such an approach if she was unsure about any of her jokes.
He told her: “If you’re worried about a joke, and how it’s going to go over, just ask them.”
Nikki is known for her participation in celebrity roast shows and admitted she thinks her jibes have given her a reputation for being “mean”, but she insisted she’s just doing her job.
She said: “I think I get a reputation of being mean because of the roast, but I’m hired to [be] mean for those.
“Golden Globes, it’s not my job to ruin their night.”
Nikki Glaser admits Benny Blanco gag at Golden Globes was ‘mean’
