In 2011, Robert DeNiro was honoured with a Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award, which is given to people for a lifetime achievement in the film industry. 
During his acceptance speech for the award, he gave us a few jokes about immigration and deportation, including the waitstaff at the event, members of the Hollywood Foreign Press and Spanish actor Javier Bardem (No Country For Old Men) all being deported.
Many celebrities use acceptance speeches to get their points across, as they’ve got many different cameras on them at once and the public’s attention.
The audience grew a bit uncomfortable as he said, “I’m sorry more members of the foreign press aren’t with us tonight, but many were deported right before the show along with most of the waiters. And Javier Bardem.”
An interesting note is that the Golden Globe Nominations for 2012 were announced in December and actually handed out last night, and after the nominations were announced many were stunned that DeNiro was not even nominated for a performance in Silver Linings Playbook, which had been generating huge Oscar buzz and is now nominated for several Academy Awards (including DeNiro for that same film in the Best Supporting Actor category). Some are blaming his 2011 Golden Globe Speech, calling it offensive to both the Golden Globes and those in attendance.
What do you think? Is the speech offensive or just in good fun? You can watch it here.
President & CEO
Michael Niren
Mr. Niren is CEO of VisaPlace LLC and the President and Managing Partner of VisaPlace Legal Canada, an immigration law firm based in Toronto, and VisaPlace Legal US a law firm registered in The District of Columbia, USA. Mr. Niren is a graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada, the Canadian Bar Association’s Citizenship and Immigration Section, American Lawyers Association, and an Associate Member of the American Bar Association.
