Spotlight on sexual harassment at this year’s Golden Globes

It’s an event typically known for celebrating the best in film and television, but this year’s Golden Globe Awards was dominated by one topic: sexual harassment against women. 

“Good evening, ladies … and remaining gentlemen,” first-time host Seth Meyers told the audience as he opened Sunday’s show in Los Angeles.

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“It’s 2018: marijuana is finally allowed, and sexual harassment finally isn’t,” the NBC “Late Night” host said to applause.

Capping off the evening, as she introduced the night’s biggest prize, the award for Best Motion Picture Drama, singer and actress Barbara Streisand delivered a stirring message to the celebrity-packed room.

“I’m very proud to stand in the room with people who speak out against gender inequality, sexual harassment and the pettiness that has poisoned our politics,” she said.

“I’m proud that our industry, faced with uncomfortable truths, has vowed to change the way we do business,” Streisand added, before handing the Golden Globe to the team behind the crime film “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.”

Film producer Harvey Weinstein, actor Kevin Spacey and comedian Louis C.K. were just some of the prominent entertainment figures to face allegations of sexual harassment, assault or misconduct last year in a wave of accusations that swept through Hollywood and prompted the #MeToo movement.

Several winners used their acceptance speeches to address the hot-button issue.

“For too long, women have not been heard or believed if they dared to speak their truth to the power of those men. But their time is up,” Oprah Winfrey declared as she accepted the prestigious Cecil B. DeMille Award.

“Their time is up!” Winfrey repeated, to a standing ovation.

Laura Dern, Best Supporting Actress winner for HBO’s “Big Little Lies,” said, “Many of us were taught not to tattle. It was a culture of silence and that was normalized.

“I urge all of us to not only support survivors and bystanders who are brave enough to tell their truth, but to promote restorative justice. May we also please protect and employ them. May we teach our children that speaking out without the fear of retribution is our culture’s new north star,” Dern said during an emotional speech.

Nicole Kidman, who also picked up a Golden Globe for her role in “Big Little Lies,” told the audience, “I do believe and I hope we can elicit change through the stories we tell and the way we tell them. Let’s keep the conversation alive.”

“Handmaid’s Tale” actress Elisabeth Moss, who won in the Best Actress in a TV Drama category, quoted the author of the book that inspired the apocalyptic Hulu series.

Afterward, she said: “Margaret Atwood, this is for you and all the women who came before you and after you, who were brave enough to speak out against intolerance and injustice, and to fight for equality and freedom in this world.”

Last week, a bevy of A-list actresses — including Reese Witherspoon, Ashley Judd and Natalie Portman, among others — writers and female entertainment execs announced the creation of “Time’s Up,” an initiative aimed at combating systemic sexual harassment.

Many actors and actresses also participated in a sartorial show of force at the awards ceremony, opting to wear black in support of “Time’s Up,” and as form of silent protest against sexual harassment in Hollywood and beyond.