Tracy Morgan apologizes after mispronouncing ‘Soul’ at Golden Globes
The comedian flubbed the announcement of the winner of the Best Original Score Golden Globe when he said 'Sal' instead of 'Soul.'
Longtime comedian Tracy Morgan flubbed the announcement of the Best Original Score Golden Globe winner when he mispronounced the film’s title.
“And the Golden Globe goes to… Sal … Soul,” Morgan said, correcting himself.
The presentation then cut to Jon Batiste, musical director for CBS’ The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, who composed and performed many of the animated musical’s songs, for a pre-recorded speech.
Batiste, along with Herbie Hancock, Daveed Diggs and Questlove, served as musical consultants on the film, which featured the voices of Jamie Foxx, Phylicia Rashad and Angela Bassett.
“We must follow our dreams because we have one life to live and one soul, and this soul is happy today to be recognized by the Hollywood Foreign Press,” said Batiste. “Pixar, thank you for the work and the collaboration, and everybody involved in creating the masterpiece that touched people across the world.”
“And I’d like to thank God for music and film,” he continued, “and the togetherness that it brings when put together in such innovative and collaborative ways, as this has been.”
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Former Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor — who also worked on the Soul score, along with Batiste and Atticus Ross — said of the win, “I think this is the first piece of art I have made in my life that I can actually show my kids, so thank you.”
The nominees for best actor in a comedy series got a few laughs in at Morgan’s expense. Don Cheadle, Eugene Levy, Nicholas Hoult, Jason Sudeikis and Ramy Youssef laughed at Morgan’s flub. “Is it Sal who won Soul?” Cheadle asked. “Who won?”
“Soul’s Pizzaria!” Sudeikis declared. “Soul’s Pizzeria!”
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For his part, Morgan tweeted a humorous apology, saying: “Sorry SOUL. I was thinking about the pizza I was going to get from my guy SAL on the way home!”
One social media user replied, “It happens, Tracy. You gave it your heart and Sal.”
Soul also won the award for Best Animated Feature Film, the first animated feature with a Black lead voice actor — Foxx — to win the award. In his acceptance speech, director Pete Docter said, “We can’t always control what happens in the world, but like a good jazz musician, we can try to turn that into something beautiful.”
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