‘Black Panther’ Star Angela Bassett Wins Early Golden Globe Award

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (Reuters) -“Black Panther” actress Angela Bassett won a supporting actress award on Tuesday at the first Golden Globe awards since a scandal knocked the glitzy Hollywood ceremony off television.

Bassett was honored for playing Queen Ramonda in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” a sequel that was rewritten after the death of star Chadwick Boseman.

“We showed the world what Black unity, leadership and love looks like beyond, behind and in front of the camera,” Bassett said as she held her trophy.

Ke Huy Quan was named best supporting actor in a drama film for his role of Waymond Wang in “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”

Celebrities and broadcaster NBC abandoned the 2022 Globes because of ethical lapses at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), the group that hands out the awards.

A larger, more diverse membership and other changes by the HFPA persuaded many of the biggest movie and TV stars to support this year’s ceremony, which provides publicity for winners and nominees and often boosts their chances at the Oscars.

Comedian and host Jarrod Carmichael opened the show joking, “I’m here because I’m black.”

“One day you’re making mint tea at home. The next day you’re invited to be the Black face of an embattled white organization,” he said at the ceremony, which was broadcast live on Comcast Corp’s NBC network and streamed on Peacock.

Big names in attendance included Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Viola Davis and “Elvis” star Austin Butler, a favorite for a best actor trophy.

A flashy “Elvis” biopic and sci-fi blockbuster “Avatar: The Way of Water” were vying for the top honor of best drama film against Steven Spielberg’s coming-of-age movie “The Fabelmans” and “Tar,” starring Cate Blanchett as a conniving orchestra conductor.

“Top Gun: Maverick” also was in the mix, though the military action film’s chances were likely hurt by star Tom Cruise returning his Globe statues in protest in 2021, awards experts said.

Cruise was reacting to a Los Angeles Times investigation that revealed the HFPA had no Black journalists in its ranks and accused members of soliciting favors from celebrities and movie studios.

“The Banshees of Inisherin,” a darkly comic tale set on an Irish island, was seen as the leading contender for best comedy or musical film.

In TV categories, “Abbott Elementary” racked up the most nominations and was considered a leader for best comedy.

Roughly 200 journalists and others from the international film industry voted on this year’s Globes. Among those voters, nearly 52% are racially and ethnically diverse, including 10% who are Black, according to the HFPA.

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine and Danielle Broadway; Additional reporting by Rollo Ross; Editing by Mary Milliken, Cynthia Osterman and Jonathan Oatis)