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11 BACKSTAGE SECRETS OF THE GOLDEN GLOBES REVEALED

jodie foster at the 2013 golden globes
jodie foster at the 2013 golden globes

Jodie Foster accepting her Cecil B. DeMille Award at the 2013 Golden Globes. Credit: Getty Images


1. Jodie Foster's Special Speech Was No Surprise

When Foster won her Cecil B. DeMille award for lifetime achievement at last year's show and gave her much buzzed about speech (where she kinda sorta officially came out of the closet and rambled on at length), Adelman confirms he was not caught off guard. "She had notes," he says, explaining that keeping up with the teleprompter wasn't an issue. "Jodie actually had some things that she wanted to say, she had planned," he said. Still, he didn't know exactly how all of it was going to play out. "I sat back there [during the show] and said, 'Wow, let's see where this is going.'"

barry adelman at the golden globes nominations event
barry adelman at the golden globes nominations event

Golden Globes executive producer Barry Adelman, far left, on the day of nominations Dec. 12, 2013. Credit: Getty Images.


2. Star Relationships Start and Stop at the Globes

While he won't name names, Adelman says a lot of actors tend to get cozy at Globes — and often a serious relationship will result. (Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel, for example, are rumored to have started up their love connection at the Globes.) Perhaps it's due to that special mix of booze and glamor. "Conversely there have been nights where couples have broken up and it was the last time they were ever seen together in public," he says. Hmm, could he be talking about Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber?

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3. Elizabeth Taylor Disaster Averted

The late Taylor nearly read a winner at the 2001 show before it was time. You see, she forgot to list out the nominees first in the Best Motion Picture – Drama category. "She grew up in the business, she's been going to awards shows since she was a child basically," Adelman observes, "but somehow when she got out there, she opened the envelope with out reading the nominees. She started to say 'and the winner is' and people in the front row started yelling 'No no no!' At that moment I raced to the stage… Just before I got there Dick Clark had beat me to it," Adelman recalls, saying Clark (who has since died) stopped Taylor before she blurted out the winner, which was, by the way, "Gladiator."

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4. Vanity and the Teleprompter

Sometimes stars request for the text size on the teleprompter to increase, Adelman says. "If they're vain and they haven't brought their glasses it's almost impossible to make it as big as it needs to be," he reveals, pointing out that those demands are relatively rare.

jack nicholson at the golden globes
jack nicholson at the golden globes

Jack Nicholson enjoys the backstage fun of the Golden Globes. Credit: Getty Images.


5. Jack Nicholson's Show Habits Revealed

"There's no one happier to see someone win," Adelman says of Nicholson. "There's no envy or jealousy in him." Nicholson likes to hang out with the producers at certain points in the show, he says. He watches the monitors backstage, often laughing, applauding, and genuinely enjoying every moment.

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6. Lauren Bacall's Bewildering Wine Request

The onetime screen siren took Adelman by surprise when she wandered backstage asking for him. "Of course, she is a legend — Dick Clark looked at me too, like, 'Wow, Lauren Bacall is asking for you by name.' I jumped up and I said, 'Oh Ms. Bacall, what can I do for you? And she said, 'I need more wine at table 12.'" It wasn't his job. Still, Adelman fulfilled her request.

amy poehler and tina fey at the golden globes 2013
amy poehler and tina fey at the golden globes 2013

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler return to host the 2014 Golden Globes. Credit: Getty IMages/NBC


7. Tip: Don't Miss the Top of the Show!

Adelman wouldn't reveal much about Sunday's upcoming show hosted by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, but he did emphasize that the top of the show is not to be missed. "It's the most star-studded six-to-eight minutes of TV anyone could see."

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8. Let the Censors Do Their Job

"We certainly don't like to censor anybody," Adelman says, explaining that he let's NBC's standards and practices unit sweat it out. "They have delay. That takes away a lot of the tension off that. Almost everybody who comes in is professional… But we do get surprised. There's no question — you get surprised."

jim carrey at the golden globes
jim carrey at the golden globes

Jim Carrey once mooned the Golden Globes audience, says Barry Adelman. Credit: Getty Images.


9. Bare Booties

Jim Carrey and Jack Nicholson have both mooned the Globes audience at different times. "We try to make it a party," Adelman says, noting the Globes have been fast and loose since the '60s — when Frank Sinatra and the rest of the Rat Pack would storm the stage with drinks in hand and take over the show.

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10. Touching Act of Kindness

When Ving Rhames won a Globe in 1998, he wound up giving it to fellow nominee Jack Lemmon. "He was so surprised to win and such an admirer of Jack Lemmon that he called him up and gave him the award," recalls Adelman. "That was a very memorable unscripted moment."

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11. Constant Surprises

You never know what people are going to say, he points out, saying he's often as surprised as the television viewing audience. "Brad Pitt got up there one time when he won and said, 'I want to thank the makers of Kaopectate for getting me through tonight.'"


Meriah Doty writes for Yahoo! Movies