Marlon Wayans Speaks Out After Mispronouncing Golden Globes Nominees

Announcing the nominees for the 2026 Golden Globes is easier said than done.

After mispronouncing several names during the live nomination ceremony on Monday, December 8, Marlon Wayans decided to address his mistakes.

“I’m not sure a lot of them know that they were nominated,” he quipped to Variety hours after the ceremony.

Wayans, 53, added that there wasn’t much time to rehearse and explained, “We were given about three minutes beforehand.”

According to Entertainment Weekly, Wayans mispronounced the name of Swedish composer Ludwig Göransson, who was nominated for his work on Sinners.

The actor also stumbled over several of the contributors to the KPop Demon Hunters-nominated track, “Golden.” The composers include Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seo, Park Hong Jun, Kim Eun-jae (Ejae) and Mark Sonnenblick.

At one point, Wayans joked to the crowd, “Somebody’s mama at home right now going, ‘What, who?’”

When reflecting on the nominations ceremony, Golden Globes executive producer Glenn Weiss couldn’t help but notice that Wayans’ fellow presenter Skye P. Marshall received much easier names.

“I was sitting there so uneasy, thinking to myself, ‘Wow, she got some really easy names, and he got all the hard names together!’” Weiss told Variety. “But, you know, that’s proof that we don’t know what the nominations are!”

Fellow executive producer Ricky Kirshner added, “That’s why I’m glad I’m not doing the announcement.”

Marshall, 44, was also quick to defend her fellow presenter after all of the nominations were revealed.

“Marlon is so comfortable and so confident, and he understands that this is all for fun,” she told Variety. “He’s a veteran, right? And I’m arriving to this stage for the first time.”

The Matlock star admitted she was “extremely nervous” before the nominations were revealed, partly because she wanted to get names right.

“I value the breakthrough, I want to make sure I’m saying [actor] Lee Byung-Hun properly and with confidence,” she said. “Because I know his work, not just because I learned the pronunciation.”

For entertainment fans who missed out on the ceremony, One Battle After Another led the way in the movie categories with nine nominations total, followed by Sentimental Value with eight and Sinners with seven. In regard to television, The White Lotus scored the most nominations with six nods, while Adolescence received five.

This year, the Golden Globes added a new annual category for Best Podcast, becoming the first major awards show to honor the entertainment platform. “Armchair Expert” with Dax Shepard, “Call Her Daddy” with Alex Cooper and  “The Mel Robbins Podcast” were some of the nominees.

Previously, event organizers announced that Helen Mirren will receive the Cecil B. DeMille Award, while Sex and the City actress Sarah Jessica Parker will accept the Carol Burnett Award.

“Sarah Jessica Parker’s career embodies the very spirit of the Carol Burnett Award,” Golden Globes President Helen Hoehne said in a statement. “Her trailblazing impact on television and her dedication to storytelling across stage and screen have left an indelible mark on popular culture. We are honored to celebrate her extraordinary contributions to entertainment.”

The 83rd annual Golden Globe Awards — hosted by Nikki Glaser — will air on CBS and Paramount+ Sunday, January 11, at 8 p.m. ET.