Nikki Glaser returns Jan 11 for her second round of hosting the Golden Globes: “It’s the greatest job I’ve ever had in this business— the hardest but the most fun and rewarding. I’m having the best time and I hope to keep doing it.”

In her first Globes hosting job on Jan. 5, 2025, Glaser and her writers worked nonstop for weeks, even working through the telecast. She made it look easy but of course it wasn’t.

“I didn’t know how tough it would be, in terms of the writing,” she says. “I wanted jokes that people at home and people in the room could get — jokes that are funny but not too mean. Julia Roberts, for example, is a reference that every generation knows, but they don’t want us to make fun of her. It’s difficult to strike the right chord.” (Roberts is nominated this year for the film “After the Hunt”).

Glaser has been doing standup for years, with several specials showcasing her work, including last year’s Globes-nominated Someday You’ll Die. Many people cemented an image of her in the 2024 special ESPN Tom Brady Roast in which she spared nobody with her barbs. But she’s not an insult comic and she sometimes has to live down that image.

As last year’s Globes host, “I was really scared everyone would be defensive. But really I was like ‘I come in peace!’ ”

Every kudocast-watcher has seen stars roll their eyes or glare when a one-liner targeted them, but there was none of that last year. Still, several people on social media predicted she will be “devastating” to the celebs in attendance.

“No! I am when I need to be for a roast but this isn’t the place for that. I really admire the people in the room and I want this night to be special for them; I don’t want my monolog to set a tone of embarrassment.”

Glaser is sensitive to the fact that five out of six nominees will go home empty handed, so why compound that?

“The more I do this,” she muses, ”the more I realize some viewers want us to really hurt these people.

“But if I do a joke about a person in the room, there will be a closeup of their face and if their expression indicates I’ve hurt their feelings, everyone will say ‘She went too far. She crossed the line! Don’t have her back!’ And I want to come back!”

Last year, she did a brief bit with attendee Adam Sandler (who’s nominated again this year). Will there be more Interaction with stars this year? That’s still a question-mark.

“It’s easy to do interaction with Adam Sandler because we’re from the same world. But it’s harder to ask a buy-in from others. Most simply don’t want to do it. They just want to have dinner, win an award and get out of there.”

This past year has had a lot of changes in politics, both domestic and international. Will she get into that?

“For sure. It would be remiss not to.” And while many home viewers are not plugged into the intricacies of film and TV work, everyone’s aware of the political changes. “But I’m not going to linger on it. Awards shows are an escape from the news so I don’t want to go hard on it, but I can’t avoid. So we’ll do light touches here and there.”

Glaser herself has gone through changes in the past year, including across-the-board rave reviews for her hosting duties. She knew that a gig hosting the Golden Globes would have an impact, but “it kind of exceeded expectations. It’s not often in a career when you have a performance that’s universally acclaimed. I was uncomfortable, to be honest. This year I’m steeling myself for the backlash. Last year the bar was low. I’m ready for a little pushback. So I’m trying to do things a little differently, challenge myself a little more.”

As a standup, one of her role models is Sarah Silverman. “As a fan, I thought ‘she seems like a nice person.’ She actually IS as warm and friendly as she comes across in her performance. She’s able to say what people are thinking but haven’t said out loud” because she doesn’t project the anger that many standups do.

She’s happy to be with the Golden Globes. “It’s one of the greatest awards shows going. I love the stars it attracts and people are so much looser, there’s a party vibe. People expect the host to be really funny. It’s always such a beautiful show and we’re going to climb in ratings. I’m so proud to be hosting this show. It’s my favorite show.”

The Golden Globes will air live Jan. 11 on CBS  (8-11 PM, live ET/5-8 PM, live PT) on the CBS Television Network, and stream on Paramount+ in the U.S. Paramount+ Premium plan subscribers will have access to stream live via the live feed of their local CBS affiliate on the service, as well as on-demand. Paramount+ Essential subscribers will not have the option to stream live, but will have access to on-demand the day after the special airs.

Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner of White Cherry Entertainment will return as executive producing showrunners for the 83rd Annual Golden Globes. Dick Clark Productions will plan, host and produce the show, which has been viewed in more than 185 countries and territories worldwide. This year’s votes were again tabulated by KPMG, the U.S. audit, tax, and advisory firm.