Golden Globes: ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ named best television series

The Marvelous Mrs Maisel, a comedy about a New York Jewish housewife set in the late 1950s, has won Best Television series at the 2018 Golden Globe awards.

Rachel Brosnahan, who plays Midge Maisel in the Amazon Video series, took home the Best Actress award for a television comedy in Sunday’s awards ceremony at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California.

James Franco was awarded the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a motion picture for his portrayal of director Tommy Wiseau in “The Disaster Artist,” a semi-fictional retelling of the production of Wiseau’s 2003 film “The Room,” popularly known as “the worst movie ever made.”

Franco praised collaborator Seth Rogan and his film co-star and brother Dave Franco, who he called “my own Coen brother.”

Jewish actresses such as Gal Gadot, Natalie Portman, Debra Messing, and Tracee Ellis Ross joined dozens of other actresses in wearing black to the awards ceremony to take a stand against sexual harassment and gender inequality in Hollywood.

The move also promoted the “Times Up” initiative spearheaded by several prominent actresses, and supported by hundreds, to fight sexual harassment, assault and inequality for women in all kinds of workplaces.

The initiative has raised a more than £11 million ($15 million) legal defence fund in the week since its founding for people who have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace.

Golden Globes host Seth Meyers addressed the issue and in particular disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein in his opening monologue of the awards ceremony.

“For the male nominees in the room tonight, this is the first time in three months it won’t be terrifying to hear your name read out loud,” Meyers quipped. He noted that Weinstein was not present at the ceremony, adding: “But don’t worry, he’ll be back in 20 years when he becomes the first person ever booed during the In Memoriam.”

Actress and director Natalie Portman also addressed inequality in Hollywood in presenting the award for Best Director, announcing: “Here are the all-male nominees.”

Golden Globe winners are decided by the non-profit organisation the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, or HFPA. During the awards ceremony, HFPA announced £1.4million ($2 million) in grants to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and the Committee To Protect Journalists.