Lily Gladstone becomes first Indigenous person to win a Golden Globe for Best Actress

The awards attracted huge controversy and a boycott in 2022 when it was revealed there were zero Black members in the judging body.

TOPSHOT-US-ENTERTAINMENT-FILM-TELEVISION-GOLDEN-GLOBES-PRESS ROOM

Lily Gladstone praised director Martin Scorsese and her co-star Leonardo DiCaprio for their allyship, and spoke in language during her acceptance speech. Source: AFP / ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images

History has been made at the 2024 Golden Globes, with one of the top gongs going to an Indigenous woman for the first time.

Lily Gladstone, who has Piegan Blackfeet and Nez Perce heritage, won the Best Actress award for her starring role in Martin Scorsese's film, 'Killers of the Flower Moon'.

An emotional Ms Gladstone noted the 'historic' moment of her win during her acceptance speech, which she opened speaking in language.
"I just spoke a bit of Blackfeet language, a beautiful community and nation that raised me, that encouraged me to keep going, keep doing this," she told the assembled glitterati.

"I'm so grateful I can speak a little bit of my language ... up here, because in this business, Native actives used to speak their lines in English and the sound mixers would run them backwards to 'acheive' Native language.

The movie addresses the historical exploitation of First Nations peoples of North America during the oil rush of the early 20th century.

The film has been praised for its honest depiction of the means by which white settlers gained further control over Native lands in order to extract the resources beneath.

Win follows 2022 controversy and boycott

The 81st outing of the prestigious awards was held Monday (AEST) in Beverly Hills.

The Golden Globes are awarded according to the votes of the Hollywood Foreign Press, a group of international entertainment journalists and critics.

A notably small group, its constitution came under intense scrutiny and condemnation when it was revealed it had zero Black members.

In 2022, a massive boycott of the awards saw a historic shakeup of the membership. The Globe's website now states that 11 per cent of the Hollywood Foreign Press are Black.

Ms Gladstone paid tribute to Scorsese her co-star Leonardo DiCaprio as 'allies' who were working to change things in Hollywood.

"This is an historic win, and it doesn't belong to just me."

The 37-year-old has starred in both TV and film productions since 2012.

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Published 8 January 2024 4:19pm
Updated 9 January 2024 4:14pm
By Dan Butler
Source: NITV


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