California - Donald Trump was not in attendance at the Golden Globes, but he was there in spirit - or more precisely, as the target of a slew of political barbs, not to mention an impassioned takedown by actress Meryl Streep.
Only a few seconds into his monologue, host Jimmy Fallon noted that the Globes was "one of the few places left where America still honors the popular vote."
He was just getting started. Fallon went on to compare the president-elect to the evil King Joffrey in "Game of Thrones."
"What would it be like if King Joffrey had lived?" Fallon asked. "Well, in 12 days we're going to find out."
Streep took things in a much more serious direction, excoriating Trump without mentioning his name in an impassioned speech as she accepted the Cecil B. DeMille Award.
The much-respected actress, who spoke on behalf of Hillary Clinton at this year's Democratic National Convention, said the "performance" that had most stunned her this year was when Trump had mocked a disabled reporter.
"It was the moment when the person asking to sit in the most respected seat in our country imitated a disabled reporter, someone he outranked in privilege, power and the capacity to fight back," Streep said. "This instinct to humiliate, when it's modelled by someone ... powerful, it filters down into everybody's life. Because it kind of gives permission for other people to do the same thing."
undefinedStreep also referenced Trump's policies on immigration when she pointedly listed the multicultural heritage of many Hollywood actors.
"Hollywood is crawling with outsiders and foreigners and if you kick them all out, you'll have nothing to watch but football and mixed martial arts, which are not the arts," Streep said, to cheers.
Host Jimmy Fallon at the 74th Annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hill. Picture: Paul Drinkwater/NBC via AP
In Fallon's monologue, he referred to a Streep film, "Florence Foster Jenkins," in which she stars as "the worst opera singer in the world." Fallon added: "Even she turned down performing at Trump's inauguration."
The mournful drama "Manchester by the Sea," he joked, was "the only thing from 2016 that was more depressing than 2016." He also noted that votes were tabulated by the accounting firm of "Ernst & Young & Putin."
Hugh Laurie poses in the press room with the award for best performance by an actor in a supporting role in a series, limited series or motion picture made for television for "The Night Manager". Picture: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Hugh Laurie, accepting his award for best supporting actor in "The Night Manager," also indulged in Trump jokes, speculating that this would perhaps be the last Golden Globes ceremony.
"I don't mean to be gloomy, but it has the words 'Hollywood,' 'foreign' and 'press' in the title," Laurie said, explaining his pessimism about the awards surviving the Trump era. He added that some Republicans don't even like the word "association."
He accepted his award "on behalf of psychopathic billionaires everywhere."