The tone of Hollywood comedy has shifted, and Nikki Glaser is adjusting to it. As the first solo female host to return for a second year, Glaser is stepping back onto the Golden Globes stage with sharper instincts and a tighter filter. What landed big laughs at the 2025 ceremony no longer fits the room.
Glaser’s approach this year leans less on shock and more on awareness. Topics once seen as fair game now feel worn out or uncomfortable, and the comedian is openly steering clear of them.
Why Ozempic Jokes Are Officially Off the Table
Weight loss drugs were everywhere during the 2025 awards season, making them an easy punchline. Glaser even referred to that year’s ceremony as “Ozempic’s biggest night.” A year later, the subject feels played out.
“Ozempic’s been done,” Glaser said in an interview with USA TODAY, confirming that she cut her only attempt at a related joke. “Some jokes there’s just not a unique way to do them anymore.”
The decision reflects a broader awareness of how fast pop culture cycles move. What feels bold one year can sound stale the next. With celebrities, viewers, and social media all more sensitive to body-related commentary, Glaser sees little upside in revisiting the topic.
The shift is not about avoiding humor. It is about choosing material that still feels fresh and fair.
Plastic Surgery Humor Now Feels Personal
Plastic surgery jokes once brought reliable laughs, especially in awards show rooms filled with Hollywood insiders. That tone has changed. Glaser believes those jokes now cut too close to the bone.
“Going back to the ’50s and ’60s, you could make fun of people getting facelifts,” Glaser, 41, explained. “Now it’s just so ubiquitous and normalized that it seems like I’m coming for everyone. It feels like almost body shaming.”
Even self-aware spins did not pass the test. During the holiday break, Glaser worked with a team of writers who shut down repeated attempts to reframe facelift jokes.
One idea involved asking for advice, leaning into the fact that she expects to get one herself. That angle still felt forced.
“It’s too convoluted,” Glaser admitted. “I just can’t make fun of face work anymore.”
The result is a cleaner set that avoids jokes about bodies altogether, even when the intent is light.
Adjusting Jokes in Real Time on the Red Carpet
Awards shows rarely go exactly as planned, and Glaser prepares for that reality. Red carpet looks, grooming choices, and last-minute styling changes can make or break a joke written weeks earlier.
A perfect example came from last year’s ceremony. Timothée Chalamet arrived with Kylie Jenner and a thin mustache, inspiring one of Glaser’s biggest laughs:
“You have the most gorgeous eyelashes… on your upper lip.”
The mustache was part of his role in “Marty Supreme,” a film for which Chalamet is now nominated. The facial hair is gone, and so is the joke.
“He had that for ‘Marty Supreme,’ I’m now realizing. So it’s off now,” Glaser said. “You have to make adjustments.”
The same logic applies across the room. Writers often assume Adam Sandler will show up in basketball shorts. Sometimes he shows up in a suit. When that happens, jokes get scrapped.
Glaser and her team actively monitor red carpet cameras and rewrite on the fly. Even when a joke feels tempting, restraint still wins.
Jeremy Strong’s outfit last year drew plenty of internal laughs. Glaser described him as looking like “a turtle who deals cocaine.” The joke never made it to air.
“Jeremy Strong takes himself very seriously, as he should,” she said. “This isn’t the night to mock him.”
Celebrity Nerves and a Softer Roast Style
Glaser’s reputation precedes her. After the widely praised Netflix roast of Tom Brady in 2024, celebrities know what she can do with a microphone.
That tension is visible in the room.
“Dax Shepard told me he was so terrified when I walked out,” Glaser shared. “There was a sense in the room of: What is she going to do?”
The difference now lies in intention. The Globes are not a roast. Glaser keeps the jabs measured, even offering reassurance ahead of time.
Glen Powell experienced that firsthand. On the red carpet, Glaser warned him about an upcoming joke and asked him not to tense up.
“It’s complimentary,” she told him. “It’s just saying about how I want to bang you. Trust me, I come in peace.”
Despite the warning, the “Top Gun: Maverick” star still looked stiff on camera. Glaser copes by intentionally blurring her vision while delivering jokes, a self-described survival trick to avoid locking eyes with anxious faces.
The Jokes That Will Never See the Stage
Not every cut joke gets recycled elsewhere. Some material is simply too sharp to share, even after the fact.
Glaser has previously revealed some scrapped jokes on “The Howard Stern Show,” and plans to continue that tradition. Still, a separate category exists for lines that stay locked away.
“Some truly only stay in the writer’s room and never leave,” she said. “We can’t even have them in a live Google Doc.”
Those jokes are spoken aloud, never typed, and never recorded. The long-term plan is to seal them for decades.
“Then it will be safe because everyone will be dead,” Glaser joked. The notes are being saved for a future biography.
Aiming for a Golden Globes Three-Peat
Hosting the Golden Globes once is a milestone. Doing it three times places a name among a small group. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler managed three celebrated runs. Ricky Gervais did the same.
Glaser wants in.
“To be in the pantheon of award show hosts, you’ve got to do at least three,” she said. A return in 2027 is already on her radar.
The job suits her skill set, even if she jokes about it being “perfectly suited for my talents — or lack thereof.”
Nikki Glaser’s updated approach highlights how fast comedy boundaries move, especially under the spotlight of a global broadcast. The 83rd Golden Globes will not shy away from humor, but the jokes will reflect a room that has changed.
By cutting Ozempic references, skipping plastic surgery commentary, and adapting jokes in real time, Glaser is setting a tone that balances sharp wit with awareness.
The laughs may sound different this year, but the intention remains clear: keep the room laughing without crossing lines that no longer belong on the stage.
