After bestowing the first Carol Burnett Award to its namesake last year, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association has chosen another comedy icon for the honor in 2020. Ellen DeGeneres, a three-time Golden Globe nominee, will be awarded the achievement for contributions to the television medium during the 77th Golden Globes telecast in January.
In a statement, Lorenzo Soria, President of the HFPA noted, “The Hollywood Foreign Press Association is delighted to honor Ellen DeGeneres with the Carol Burnett Award. From her sitcoms to stand-up, to becoming a household staple on daytime television, she is a pioneer who has captivated audiences for nearly 25 years with her undeniable charm and wit. In addition to her television success, she’s an advocate and philanthropist, lending her voice to those who don’t have one and spreading kindness and joy through the power of her platform. We look forward to celebrating her achievements at this year’s ceremony.”
The HFPA will hand out the film equivalent of the Burnett Award, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, to Tom Hanks.
After getting her start as a stand-up in the early ’90s, DeGeneres became a sitcom star with “Ellen” in the ’90s. The series made history when her character came out as gay in a Peabody-winning episode watched by 46 million viewers. Publicly out herself, DeGeneres segued to daytime television when “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” began airing in 2003 and the program became the most-watched daytime talk show filling a void after “The Oprah Winfrey Show” went off the air in 2011. It has also won a total of 66 Emmy Awards including 11 for Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show.
DeGeneres has also hosted the Academy Awards twice. Her most recent outing, in 2014, was viewed by 43.7 million people in the U.S. Six years later and it’s still the highest-rated Oscar telecast since the year 2000.
Despite her popularity, she was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for comedy and honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama, DeGeneres has recently found herself in the middle of a number of controversies. Earlier this year DeGeneres had Kevin Hart on her program to explain the anti-gay comments which saw him withdraw his name from hosting the 91st Academy Awards this past February. She was criticized for expressing support for Hart during his appearance. Additionally, she landed even more criticism for defending her friendship with former president George W. Bush who is considered a war criminal by many on the left.
The 77th Golden Globes will air on Jan. 5, 2020 on NBC at 8 PM ET, 5 PM PT. Neither the network or the HFPA have announced a host for this year’s ceremonies at this time.