During a recent Los Angeles Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) event, James Corden was stung by criticism after making jokes about the Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment scandal but later apologised.
The famous late show host has returned for the third year in a row, to host the Hollywood Film Awards (HFA) on Sunday, November 5, where Corden avoided all topics of controversy or touchy subject matter during his monologue and other materials, throughout the non-televised award show.
At the 21st edition of the Hollywood Film Awards, he said: “Tonight you are all winners. There is no reason to be here if you haven’t won one. If you are here and haven’t won an award fire your publicist,” repeating the same joke he said in the first year he hosted. Those lines were much fresher and more on-point back then.
He opened the proceedings by noting, “Hollywood Film Award winners have gone on to win 110 Oscar nominations or statues, so rest assured it does get better than this.”
Corden aside, there was virtually no direct reference to the recent scandals engulfing Hollywood from any presenter or winner on stage, and barely any reference. Trump was mentioned once, when Corden talked of wanting to see the alleged “Donald Trump pee tape,” if it is out there somewhere.
The quick paced ceremony appeared almost exclusively dedicated to providing a platform for the agreed upon winners, to publicise their speeches for a shot at future awards shows, or on the road to Oscar.
There were indeed some nice speeches, including one from Breakthrough Director Taylor Sheridan for “Wind River,” which is about the gang rape and murder of a Native American woman.
“Silence is the enemy and silence cannot be tolerated anymore,” he said.
Corden did send out condolences to recent Texas victims as he closed the show, but there was no other talk about it as the country seemingly has become numb to these recurrent shootings and sexual harassments in the industry.
Here is a list of all the winners at HFA 2017:
Hollywood Career Achievement Award -
Gary OldmanHollywood Actor Award -
Jake Gyllenhaal for “Stronger”Hollywood Supporting Actor Award -
Sam Rockwell for “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Montana”Hollywood Actress Award -
Kate Winslet for “Wonder Wheel”Hollywood Supporting Actress Award -
Allison Janney for “I, Tonya”Hollywood Comedy Award -
Adam Sandler for “The Meyerowitz Stories”Hollywood Breakout Performance Actress Award -
Mary J. Blige for “Mudbound”Hollywood Breakout Performance Actor Award -
Timothée Chalamet for “Call Me By Your Name”New Hollywood Award - Jamie Bell for
“Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool”Hollywood Documentary Award -
Sean Combs for “Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: Bad Boy Story”Hollywood Ensemble Award -
“I, Tonya” cast including Margot Robbie, Allison Janney, Sebastian Stan, Julianne Nicholson, Mckenna Grace, and Caitlin CarverHollywood Comedy Ensemble Award -
“The Bick Sick” cast including Kumail Nanjiani, Holly Hunter, Zoe Kazan, and Ray RomanoHollywood Breakout Ensemble Award -
“Mudbound” cast including Carey Mulligan, Garrett Hedlund, Mary J. Blige, Jason Mitchell, Jason Clarke, Rob Morgan, and Jonathan BanksHollywood Song Award -
Common, Andra Day, and Diane Warren for “STAND UP FOR SOMETHING” from MarshallHollywood Foreign Language Film Award -
Angelina Jolie and Loung Ung for “First They Killed My Father”Hollywood Director Award -
Joe Wright for “Darkest Hour”Hollywood Breakthrough Director Award -
Taylor Sheridan for “Wind River”Hollywood Producer Award -
Broderick Johnson, Andrew Kosove, and Cynthia Yorkin for “Blade Runner 2049”Hollywood Screenwriter Award -
Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber for “The Disaster Artist”Hollywood Animation Award -
“Coco”Hollywood Cinematography Award -
Roger Deakins for “Blade Runner 2049”Hollywood Film Composer Award -
Thomas Newman for “Victoria & Abdul”Hollywood Editor Award -
Sidney Wolinsky for “The Shape of Water”Hollywood Visual Effects Award -
Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Dan Barrett and Erik Winquist for “War for the Planet of the Apes”Hollywood Sound Award -
Addison Teague & Dave Acord for “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2”And more awards were presented for different categories at the show.