Host Aisha Tyler took aim at “scumbags” in the entertainment industry as she opened the Directors Guild Of America Awards with a highly charged monologue.
The 71st running of the awards show, seen as a reliable indicator ahead of the Academy Awards later this month, took place at the Ray Dolby Ballroom in Los Angeles on Saturday.
The big award of the night, outstanding directorial achievement in feature film, sees some of the biggest names in Hollywood going head to head.
Alfonso Cuaron is nominated for Roma, alongside Peter Farrelly for Green Book, Spike Lee for BlacKkKlansman, Adam McKay for Vice and Bradley Cooper for A Star Is Born.
Cooper is also nominated in the first-time directorial category. Opening the show, Friends and Criminal Minds actress Tyler reflected on the sexual harassment scandal that has swept Hollywood over the last 18 months and joked about investigative reporter Ronan Farrow bringing down powerful men in the industry.
She said: “It’s been a shocking year, as people we all knew were total f****** scumbags are finally exposed for being total f****** scumbags.
“Honestly, for me, it’s a real relief to know that if you work with a jerk and you bring it up to peers and HR and anyone who will listen, eventually Mia Farrow’s son will track down 20 other people who say the exact same thing and he’ll publish a piece about it and people will finally, maybe, believe you.”
Tyler also spoke about diversity in Hollywood.
She said: “This isn’t about quotas or charity, because this has never been a fair business. It’s about bringing unique points into the storytelling arena so we don’t keep making the same films over and over and over again.”
The first award of the night was for the outstanding directorial achievement in children’s programmes and was won by Jack Jameson for his work on Sesame Street special When You Wish Upon A Pickle.
Outstanding directorial achievement in a variety/talk/news/sports category for regularly scheduled programmes went to Don Roy King, for the Saturday Night Live episode featuring Adam Driver and Kanye West.
The specials award in the same category was handed to Louis J Horvitz for the 60th Grammy Awards.
The DGA Awards, now in their 71st year, celebrate the best work from directors in television and film.
The DGAs are a reliable indicator ahead of the Academy Awards and are a useful barometer for both best director and best picture.
Last year’s big winner from the DGAs, Guillermo del Toro, won the best director Oscar while his film, The Shape Of Water, won best picture.
In total, the Academy and the Guild have differed 16 times on the year’s best film, most recently 2016 when the DGA for outstanding directorial achievement in film went to La La Land while the Oscar was awarded to Moonlight.