There is always drama surrounding award shows and announcements. There inevitably are surprises and there is always an element of awkwardness when somebody gets snubbed. But what happened online during the Golden Globe nominations announcement was truly cringe-worthy. During the nomination announcements on Thursday, the Golden Globes flubbed horribly by confusing two actresses. Before and during the announcement, actress America Ferrera (Ugly Betty, Superstore) was mistaken for Gina Rodriguez (Jane the Virgin). Awkward.
On Twitter, the Golden Globes posted two tweets in which they identified America Ferrera as Gina Rodriguez. In a promotional tweet before the nominations were revealed, the Golden Globes posted a picture which showed their four announcers.
Ferrera, not Rodriguez, was given the honor of announcing the Golden Globes nominations and was joined by Chloe Grace Moretz, Angela Bassett, and Dennis Quaid. Whoever was in charge of the Golden Globes’ Twitter account did not realize their mistake until after a second tweet made during the announcements.
The mistake is clearly embarrassing for the organization, but to make matters even more awkward, both Ferrera and Rodriguez are past Golden Globe winners. Whoops. Ferrera won a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy back in 2007 for her role in Ugly Betty. Earlier this year Rodriguez won the same award for her role in Jane the Virgin.
Maybe the Hollywood Foreign Press Association got confused because, even though she was not announcing, Rodriguez is once again in the running for Best Actress in a Television Series. Also nominated for the award are Lily Tomlin, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Rachel Bloom.
After realizing their mistake, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association immediately deleted the tweets and issued an apology to the two actresses. “What occurred this morning was an unfortunate error,” the organization said in a statement. “Our sincerest apologies to America and Gina.”
Neither actress has responded to the faux pas or apology. Rodriguez took to Twitter only to respond to her nomination and express her “speechless gratitude.”