Goldie Hawn Claims Award Shows Are Too ‘Off-Color’ And ‘Politicized’ Now

Recently, Goldie Hawn expressed her thoughts on the absence of excitement in modern award shows. “It used to be elegant,” Hawn said in a Variety cover story. “I’m not old-fashioned, but sometimes jokes are off-color. And I’m missing reverence. Things have become politicized. I want to see people in awe. I want to see people believing again. I want to see people laughing more in a way that isn’t just at someone else’s expense.”

The actress who won an award for best supporting actress in 1970 reflected on her decision as regards why she didn’t attend the Oscar ceremony. “It’s something that I look back on now and think, ‘It would have been so great to be able to have done that,’” Hawn said. The actress further revealed that she didn’t also watch the live broadcast of the award show until five decades later.

Goldie Hawn gives her take on Will’s Smith infamous Oscar slap

In 2022, Hawn commented on the ugly incident that resulted in Will Smith slapping Chris Rock while onstage for making a sensitive joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett, during the award show. “It’s indicative of our culture right now,” Hawn said. “I mean, you could look at it and say, ‘What the hell just happened?’ Somebody lost control.”

RELATED: Goldie Hawn Blames Cancel Culture For Ruining Comedy

“They lost their self-regulation. Their bigger brain wasn’t thinking, and they did something that was horrendous and also showed no remorse. That, to me, is a microcosm oftentimes of our world, Hawn added. “Chris was brilliant — totally held on to and controlled his emotions, was able to stand with dignity. That’s an example of what we would like our world to look like. But, unfortunately, it isn’t right now.”

Hawn advised celebrities to keep their emotion in check

Hawn also revealed that the lack of emotional intelligence has hit the entertainment industry, and this is causing a decline in the number of talented and dedicated movie stars. “Where are they? The old-fashioned movie star creates excitement,” she said. “We used to be able to say, ‘I’m going to take a break because I think I’m overexposed.’ A lot of these people that are coming up are making more money than anybody ever made as an actor, but they’re not known.”

The actress concluded by sharing her view on romantic comedies, which are tagged as “too pedestrian and not interesting,” and how the current wave of cancel culture is negatively affecting comedy. “I think that it’s important to stand vigilant on people’s behavior and really understand when they’re out of line and be able to handle it,” Hawn explained. “But I’m concerned about these areas: Suddenly you don’t have a job. Suddenly you can’t date a woman within the business or you’re going to get fired.”

Hawn talks about cancel culture

“They’re canceling books — classic books that no one can read. I don’t like that,” Hawn said. “There’s mistrust everywhere. So not only is there cancel culture, but there are culture wars. Schools are being politicized. But for the greater good of our children? No one’s really looking at that. There’s a disruption now. Disruptions are good. But imbalance isn’t.”

“I hope to get back to some level of sensibility and fairness. So ‘cancel culture.’ The word itself scares me more than anything. It’s rigid, concretized thinking, which is not good. It’s got double edges on it. And who has the right to cancel? The level of sensitivity is so high that comedians are afraid to tell certain jokes the way they used to,” she detailed. “And it’s a bit of a quandary for comedians; there are things you can’t say and so on and so forth. I mean, it’s fine. There are certain areas that I agree with. But the level of sensitivity is unforgiving. That’s not a good feeling when you’re in a creative mode.”