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Golden Globes host Jerrod Carmichael incited a ballroom’s worth of gasps from the celebrities at Tuesday night’s ceremony, with his shocking joke about Tom Cruise and Scientology.
“Backstage I found the awards that Tom Cruise returned,” Carmichael said, clutching three trophies. He was presumably referencing Cruise’s public statement of returning his awards to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, following its scandals last year. Then the kicker: “I say we take these three things and exchange them for the safe return of Shelly Miscavige.”
After what seemed like a beat to process the joke, there were audible gasps throughout the audience.