Golden Globes Honors Renée Zellweger & Taron Egerton for Playing Gay Icons

The Golden Globes gave big love to the leads of the Elton John and Judy Garland biopics.

The awards ceremony thrown by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association honored Judy's Renée Zellweger in the category of Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama, and Rocketman's Taron Egerton in the category of Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.

When he took the podium, Egerton, who gave life to John in the acclaimed musical, thanked the gay singer "for the music, thank you for living a life less ordinary, and thank you for being my friend." Egerton also thanked director Dexter Fletcher, John's husband (and producer) David Furnish, and his mother in the audience.

Previously in the evening, Rocketman also took home a Golden Globe for Best Original Song for "I'm Gonna Love Me Again," by John and his longtime collaborator Bernie Taupin. John was emotional receiving the award, as it was the first the pair had won together.

Likewise, Zellweger, accepting her fourth Golden Globe win, paid tribute to the gay icon she embodied. On the stand, the actress honored Garland's "legacy and her humanity." She also acknowledged how the Wizard of Oz star continued to remind the world that the "choices that we make matter, what we make matter, and how we chose to honor each other in our lifetimes can matter a great deal down the road."

When told by The Advocate that Zellweger herself was a gay icon in a recent interview, the actress said the title was "flattering." "A great deal of my closest friends are gay people," she said, calling them "treasures" and speaking about the "admiration" for the LGBTQ people in her life who are full of "empathy, understanding, and acceptance, and absence of judgment" and a knack for "embracing life."

In October, Zellweger, dressed as Garland, graced a digital cover of The Advocate in order to give the "Over the Rainbow" chanteuse the cover she was never able to receive in her lifetime.

She was not the only gay icon to take the stage that evening. Saturday Night Live's Kate McKinnon choked up in her introduction to Ellen DeGeneres, who was honored with the Carol Burnett Award. McKinnon noted how she was a trailblazer for many LGBTQ people — herself included.

"She risked her entire life and her entire career in order to tell the truth and she suffered greatly for it,” McKinnon said. “Of course, attitudes change, but only because brave people like Ellen jump into the fire to make them change. If I hadn’t seen her on TV, I would have thought, I could never be on TV. They don’t let LGBTQ people on TV.”

The 2020 Golden Globe Awards, held at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles, was hosted by British comedian Ricky Gervais, who recently came under fire for transphobic tweets. Gervais made light of the controversy in his opening remarks. He noted that while Kevin Hart was not allowed to host the Oscars last year for antigay tweets, "I'm lucky the Hollywood Foreign Press [Association] have no idea what Twitter is."

Gervais also turned his ire on Hollywood in a scathing introduction, which included a reference to Ronan Farrow, the out reporter who helped bring light to accusations of sexual assault against producer Harvey Weinstein, whose trial is tomorrow. "He's coming for you, he's coming for you," Gervais faux-warned the audience.

"Talking of all you perverts, it was a big year for pedophile movies. Surviving R. Kelly, Leaving Neverland, The Two Popes," he added, a reference to the nominated film about the two most recent leaders of the Catholic Church.

Watch the monologue below.