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ET and Carmichael walked out, his first words were actually Settle!
Settle, settle, settle.
People in the back.
Lets be a little quiet here, everybody.
The trouble for Carmichael was that the Globes were never going to give him the time.
Ill tell you why Im here.
Im here because Im Black, he said.
During a few moments as Carmichael paused between lines, the room was silent.
For awards-show hosts and most short comedy sets, silence is the enemy.
Silence is the absence of approval.
Silence is a halted rhythm, a deadened room, an energy level plummeting to unrecoverable lows.
Are they going to fire me?
They havent had a Black host in 79 years.
Theyre going to fire the first one?
The crowd laughed, a bit, but it was not a relaxed laughter.
This is an evening where we get to celebrate, and I think this industry deserves evenings like these.
The Globes had no patience for it and never wouldve.
The audience gasped, but it was a gasp of pleasurable outrage, not of quiet wariness.
