Gary: the spy who slagged the Globes

This isn’t really the time of year for Golden Globes controversy, but Gary Oldman slagged off the gongs when picking up a prize for best actor at the Empire Awards.

Honoured for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, the south Londoner acknowledged the fact that the public voted in this race and that the Empire prizes weren’t “political”. He was later asked to clarify and happily put his boot into the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s annual bash. “Specifically, I’m talking about the Globes,” he said. “Which I think is bent, to be honest with you.”

Oldman didn’t finish there. “There’s always a bit of that involved. People talk about the ‘sympathy win’ or someone will get something for their body of work rather than that role. The Oscars and Baftas, the voting and all of that is pretty straightforward. But the Globes, the Foreign Press, is a whole different thing.”

Ironically, this year’s Golden Globes passed off with comparatively little controversy. Last year, by way of contrast, there was major griping when starry projects such as The Tourist and Burlesque, savaged by critics and treated coolly

by audiences, achieved nominations for best comedy or musical. At the time, Betsey Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times commented: “The Globe nominations have often been little more than a popularity contest among those who throw the best parties, but with its 2011 nominations, the HFPA has reached a new low.”

In the interests of fairness, we should point out that Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy was, this year, ignored by the Globes.