The 2017 award season kicked off Sunday, January 8th with the Golden Globes. This year Jimmy Fallon, host of The Tonight Show on NBC, hosted the crowd filled with top actors, musicians, and producers. Awards were given for the best productions of film and television of 2016. In true Hollywood fashion, the broadcast was live from the The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California. This year, there was an arrangement of stars walking the red carpet. Well known actors such as Meryl Streep and Ryan Gosling were present, but new actors such as the gang from Stranger Things, a Netflix original television series, joined along.

Streep was announced as the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award honoree, an award given by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for “outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment.” Meanwhile, Golden Globe records were broken by the film La La Land. The romantic-musical won all 7 nominations including best director, best screenplay, and best motion picture: musical or comedy. This was the most successful film in Golden Globe history. No film has won over 4 awards since 1979.

Best drama motion picture went to Moonlight. For television, Atlanta and The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story both took home awards, making the night a big victory for FX.  For acting in dramas, Isabelle Huppert for Elle and Casey Affleck for Manchester by the Sea were both given the trophy for lead acting. For acting in a comedy or musical genre, Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling were awarded for their performances in La La Land as best actor/actress.  Emma Stone said in her acceptance speech, “I think that hope and creativity are two of the most important things in the world, and that’s what this movie is about.”

The broadcast became political when Streep accepted her Lifetime Achievement Award. Streep spoke out against Donald Trump, characterizing him as a bully. Meryl had previously presented at the Democratic National Convention last summer on behalf of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

Streep spoke of disgust for Trump, describing a time where Trump made fun of a disabled reporter. “It kind of broke my heart, and I saw it, and I still can’t get it out of my head because it wasn’t in a movie. It was real life. And this instinct to humiliate when it’s modeled by someone in the public platform by someone powerful, it filters down into everybody’s life because it kind of gives permission for other people to do the same thing.”

In response, President-elect Trump tweeted, “Meryl Streep, one of the most overrated actresses in Hollywood, doesn’t know me but attacked last night at the Golden Globes. She is a Hillary flunky who lost big. For the 100th time, I never “mocked” a disabled reporter (would never do that) but simply showed him ‘groveling’ when he totally changed a 16 year old story that he had written in order to make me look bad. Just more very dishonest media!”

Hollywood and the people associated with the town are often characterized as a liberal town, and the Globe audience proceeded to give Streep both applause and disapproval. From a business perspective, producers and networks might not think it was a smart move, for they cannot risk a decrease of viewers or profit in their product, but many stars support Streep and her decision to publicly discuss Trump and to stand up for her views.

“She challenged us to take action in a way where I was like, this is what Hollywood kind of should be,” said comedian and YouTube Personality Issa Rae.

Mr. Robot star Rami Malek said, “She’s surpassed strictly being a performance artist and now is an artist of social change. In a weird way, she’s our president.”

Overall, it was a record-breaking broadcast. The 74th Golden Globes was definitely memorable. La La Land plowed its way through Hollywood with a record amount of awards, Hollywood remembered those who had passed away by paying tribute to Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, Streep was awarded for her successful career in Hollywood, and Fallon helped move the show on for the crowd with great comedy and funny segments. The 74th Golden Globes kicked off a great awards season for 2017.