A welcome change! The Hollywood Foreign Press Association made a last-minute decision earlier this month to make the menu for the 2020 Golden Globes entirely vegan and it looks like it paid off.
Stars including Joaquin Phoenix and Leonardo DiCaprio praised the organization for the change, which the HFPA viewed as a bold way to raise environmental awareness about food consumption and waste.
After he won the Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama award for his work in Joker, on Sunday, January 5, Phoenix, 45, who is vegan, used the opportunity to show his appreciation for the vegan meal, a first-ever for the annual event. “First, I’d like to thank the Hollywood Foreign Press for recognizing and acknowledging the link between animal agriculture and climate change,” he said at the start of his acceptance speech. “It’s a very bold move, making tonight plant-based, and it really sends a powerful message.”
Phoenix’s opening statement was met with cheers and applause from the audience.
Prior to Sunday night’s awards show, DiCaprio, 45, shared his support for the choice as well. “Thank you HFPA @goldenglobes,” he tweeted on Thursday, January 2, along with the clapping hands emoji. The Once Upon a Time in Hollywood star’s expression of thanks came just hours after the HFPA announced the unexpected change.
“If there’s a way we can, not change the world, but save the planet, maybe we can get the Golden Globes to send a signal and draw attention to the issue about climate change,” HFPA president Lorenzo Soria said in a statement at the time. “The food we eat, the way we grow the food we eat, the way we dispose of the food is one of the large contributors to the climate crisis.”
Though an earlier version of Sunday’s menu featured a fish course, The Beverly Hilton’s executive chef, Matthew Morgan, was notified the meal would instead be entirely plant-based just before the Christmas holiday. “It was a little shocking when first mentioned, because of being very close to the actual Globes and having already decided on a menu,” the culinary pro explained to the Associated Press at the time. “But once we thought about it and the message that it sent, we were really excited about it. That’s something I stand behind myself.”
In place of the fish course, Morgan served king oyster mushroom “scallops,” which were presented to look like scallops, but actually consisted of the thick-fleshed mushrooms, wild mushroom risotto, roasted baby purple and green Brussels sprouts, globe carrots and pea tendrils. Chilled golden beet soup was the appetizer course, while guests were treated to an opera dome with choco brilliance, praline gunaja crumble, carmalized hazelnuts and a passion crispy for dessert.
Scroll down for more stars who were pleased that the Golden Globes menu was all vegan in 2020!