Nikki Glaser Admits She Cut ICE, Trump, and Brad Pitt Jokes From Golden Globes Set – Here’s Why

After hosting the Golden Globes, Nikki Glaser continued a now-familiar routine by talking openly about the jokes that never made it onstage. She shared the details during an appearance on The Howard Stern Show, where she explained why several punchlines were cut before the live broadcast.

Glaser revealed that she decided to remove jokes involving ICE and Donald Trump. She said politics felt especially hard to joke about this year and that it didn’t feel funny in the moment. “It’s hard to strike the right tone,” she told Stern, explaining why she mostly stayed away from political material.

One joke she considered involved a play on words about ice, referring both to drinks at the bar and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “I was going to come in at some point and say, ‘I’m hearing from the bar that we’re out of ice. And you know, we don’t really need ice. And actually, I hate ice,’” Glaser said. She ultimately decided against it, adding that even light wordplay felt wrong given the timing. “It just felt like, oh, even that’s just being too trivial,” she said.

The awards show aired shortly after ICE agent Jonathan Ross shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Good in Minneapolis, an incident that led to protests across the country. During the Golden Globes red carpet, several celebrities, including Mark Ruffalo, Natasha Lyonne, and Wanda Sykes, wore pins reading “Ice Out” and “Be Good” to honor Good. Glaser said that context made political jokes feel especially risky.

Another joke that didn’t survive edits involved a reference to the Beverly Hilton being renamed the “Trump Beverly Hilton,” tied to the ongoing Trump Kennedy Center controversy. Glaser said she chose not to even say the president’s name. “You just don’t say that guy’s name right now,” she explained. “I just want to give it space.”

She also shared that Steve Martin had sent her the Trump joke ahead of the show but later advised her to drop it and avoid politics altogether. Glaser said she agreed with his instinct.

Glasser also revealed she cut a joke involving Brad Pitt:

“Brad Pitt is nominated for his role in ‘F1’ tonight. See, that’s what I love about Hollywood. When a man turns 60, he gets to play a racecar driver. Meanwhile, after 35, every role for a woman is a tired mom who hates her life. And Brad, you were so good I was almost convinced that you’ve driven yourself somewhere in the last 30 years. But Brad did a lot of his own driving in the movie. And Brad, I don’t want to embarrass you, but your blinker was on the whole time there.”

While she avoided many political jokes, Glaser did keep a few topical lines in her monologue. Stern praised her for one joke aimed at CBS News, the same network airing the Globes. “The award for most editing goes to CBS News,” she said during the show, referencing a recently pulled “60 Minutes” segment.

Glaser also revealed that many celebrity jokes were cut simply for time or tone. These included jokes about Sean Penn, Leonardo DiCaprio, Amy Poehler, Julia Roberts, Jeff Goldblum, and several others. Most of them leaned edgy or absurd, but Glaser said trimming them helped keep the show moving and the mood balanced.

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