Seth Meyers kicks off feisty Globes, Kidman wins first award

With a red carpet dyed black by actresses outfitted in a color-coordinated statement against sexual harassment and gender inequality, the Golden Globes confronted the post-Harvey Weinstein era with a ceremony at turns protest rally and party, atonement and celebration.

"Good evening ladies and remaining gentlemen," opened host Seth Meyers at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.

Meyers, in his first time hosting the Globes, dove straight into material about the sex scandals that have roiled the industry and the "elephant" in the room, Harvey Weinstein.

"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," said Meyers.

The first award of the night, perhaps fittingly, went to one of Hollywood's most powerful women: Nicole Kidman, for her performance in HBO's "The Big Little Lies," a series she and Reese Witherspoon also produced. She chalked the win up to "the power of women."

"Let's keep the conversation alive," she said.

Hollywood's awards season is seen as wide open, but the early returns Sunday were good for one of the leading nominees: the revenge black comedy "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri." Sam Rockwell won for best supporting actor.

Many female stars arrived with activist guests — Michelle Williams with "Me Too" founder Tarana Burke, Meryl Streep and domestic workers advocate Ai-jen Poo, Laura Dern and farmworker advocate Monica Ramirez — as part of the larger effort to keep the Globes spotlight trained on the sexual harassment and assault scandals that have roiled Hollywood and other industries.

"We feel sort of emboldened in this particular moment to stand together in a thick black line," Streep said.

The Globes had long been the stomping grounds of disgraced mogul Weinstein, whose downfall precipitated allegations against James Toback, Kevin Spacey and many others. Weinstein presided over two decades of Globes winners and was well-known for his savvy manipulation of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the 89-member group that puts on the Globes.

Ashley Judd, the first big name to go on record with her Weinstein experience, and Salma Hayek, who last month penned an op-ed about her nightmare with Weinstein, arrived together.

Sunday night's black-clad protest was promoted by the recently formed Time's Up: an initiative of hundreds of women in the entertainment industry —including Streep, Williams, Dern and the night's Cecil B. DeMille honoree, Oprah Winfrey — who have banded together to advocate for gender parity in executive ranks and legal defense aid for sexual harassment victims.

"It's not a fashion statement. It's a solidarity statement," said "The Crown" actress Claire Foy.

Just about everyone, woman and man, celebrity and red-carpet reporters, was dressed in black Sunday, many of them wearing a Time's Up pin. "This Is Us" star Chris Sullivan even sported black fingernails.

"I can tell you it's a very small gesture. Me wearing black isn't going to change anything, but from small gestures come big ones," said Alfred Molina.

Tough the atmosphere was still buoyant and positive, the usually superficial red carpet had unusual exchanges. While being interviewed live on E!, Debra Messing called out the network for allegedly not paying its female hosts the same as its male hosts. E!'s Catt Sadler recently departed, she has said, after she learning she was making about half the pay of her male counterpart, Jason Kennedy.

The exchange was just another illustration of how the "MeToo" reckoning that has plowed through Hollywood has upended awards season. Sunday's Globes are considered wide open, with contenders including Guillermo del Toro's "The Shape of Water," Steven Spielberg's "The Post" and Martin McDonagh's "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri."

The ongoing scandals have derailed Oscar campaigns and prompted new ones. Among the nominees Sunday is Christopher Plummer, who was brought in at the last minute to erase Spacey from "All the Money in the World."