Madonna gag flops at Golden Globes

Sacha Baron Cohen was booed by Hollywood’s A-list last night, after cracking a joke about Madonna’s divorce at the Golden Globes.

Presenting the award for best comedy, the comic made a series of comments on how the recession was hitting big-name stars.

He joked that Victoria Beckham hadn't eaten for days, and said that Charlie Sheen was so hard up he had to have sex without paying for it.

But when he quipped: ‘Madonna has had to get rid of one of her personal assistants. Our heart goes out to you, Guy Ritchie’, the Beverly Hills audience were not amused.

The gag might have been seen as ungrateful, as Baron Cohen got his first break in America when he starred as Ali G in Madonna’s video for Music in 2000.

The funnyman then handed the comedy award to Woody Allen's Vicky Christina Barcelona.

Ricky Gervais got a better reception to his speech – even though it contained one very old joke. He said: ‘I can't believe I'm not nominated. What a waste of a campaign.

‘Today is the last time I have sex with 200 middle-age journalists. It was horrible. Really. A lot of them didn't even speak English. Europeans with wispy beards. The men were worse.’

Gervais took to the stage shortly after Kate Winslet won the best supporting actress award for her portrayal of a Nazi death camp guard in The Reader.

He congratulated his one-time Extras co-star, saying: ‘Well done Winslet, I told you, do a Holocaust movie and the awards come, didn't I?

But then he added: ‘The trouble with Holocaust films, there's no gag reel on the DVD.’

The best comedy TV series went to 30 Rock, but the audience were surprised to see supporting actor Tracey Morgan accept the award rather than the sitcom’s main star and creator, Tina Fey.

‘Tina Fey and I had an agreement,’ he explained. ‘If Barack Obama won, I would speak for the show from now on. Welcome to post-racial America!’

Fey, however, did win best leading actress in a comedy series, but used the opportunity to snipe back at her online critics.

‘If you ever start to feel too good about yourself, they have this thing called the Internet,’ she said: ‘You can find a lot of people who don't like you.’

‘I'd like to address some of them now,’ she added. ‘Babs in La Crosse, you can suck it. Diane-fan, you can suck it. Cougar-letter, you can really suck it, 'cause all year you've been after me. All year.’

Alec Baldwin, who plays Fey's boss Jack Donaghy, was named best comedy actor in another good night for 30 Rock.

Published: 12 Jan 2009