Jimmy Fallon didn’t get much of a break for his first time hosting the Golden Globes, as a teleprompter malfunction right at the beginning of the show forced him to scramble in front of most of Hollywood’s leading lights.
Fortunately, the equipment was fixed within minutes, and between the show’s “La La Land”-inspired opening extravaganza and Fallon’s rollicking monologue, the technical snafu was more of a speed bump than anything else.
TheWrap was able to confirm from multiple cameramen and technical staffers at the Beverly Hilton’s International Ballroom that the teleprompter did indeed go down — it wasn’t just part of the show. According to those sources, the issue came from a cable underneath the main camera platform at the center of the room.
The problem was resolved and the prompter came back after a few minutes, but the episode was certainly not the type of cord-cutting Amazon and Netflix (which are responsible for multiple Golden Globe nominees) have in mind.
And after the teleprompter came back to life, Fallon got right to the heart of his material, which included a surprisingly good Chris Rock impersonation and several veiled shots at another showbiz figure who isn’t fond of teleprompters, President-elect Donald Trump.
Mikey Glazer contributed reporting to this article.