Kevin Costner is making up for lost time. After missing last year's ceremony, the "Yellowstone" star presented at the 2024 Golden Globe Awards and proved he's the unexpected king of awkward humor with a hilarious (or cringe-worthy?) "Barbie" joke.
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Costner won last year's Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series for his role as John Dutton on "Yellowstone," but couldn't attend due to flooding in his Santa Barbara neighborhood — which, you'll recall, led to a memorable moment onstage with presenter Regina Hall. At this year's ceremony, he presented alongside "Barbie" star America Ferrera.
After Ferrera announced that she had "chills" watching "The Bodyguard," Costner let out a pained "ughhh" to audience laughter. He went on to praise Ferrera's now-famous "Barbie" monologue with his signature, slow-going delivery. Here's how he explained it, to raucous laughter:
"You know, where it's literally impossible to be a woman. You know, that you're so beautiful, you're so smart, that it kills me that you don't think that you're good enough. That was... pretty good," he said, awkwardly trailing off as the room giggled.
"Did you, Kevin Costner, memorize my 'Barbie' monologue?" Ferrera asked, to which Costner replied simply, "No."
"But it's an important message, really," he continued as the audience exploded with laughter. "And it always serves to remind me what's possible in film."
The camera panned to Meryl Streep and "Ted Lasso" star Hannah Waddingham, who both beamed. Costner continued with a mini speech on the power of screenwriting as the audience continued to giggle.
The internet is divided over whether Costner's delivery was a shining moment of awkward humor that demonstrated his comedic chops, or a truly awkward mishandling of the teleprompter.
"NOT KEVIN COSTNER BEING THE FUNNIEST ONE TONITE," one Twitter user gushed. Vulture chimed in with: "kevin costner with the best comedic timing of the night."
On the other end, some viewers deemed the moment too awkward to have been staged. "This was rough," wrote one Twitter user. And another: "Kevin Costner is in a deep flow state."
Still another viewer compared him to Hollywood's most beloved grump, writing, "Kevin Costner wins the Harrison Ford award for best aging stoner presenter."
Sure, Costner is the king of awkward awards speeches. But will we ever know whether this Golden Globes hall-of-fame moment was supposed to be this funny? Not likely.
Watch the moment below:
