Viola Davis to Receive Cecil B. DeMille Award at 2025 Golden Globes

Actress, producer and EGOT winner Viola Davis is the Golden Globes’ 2025 Cecil B. DeMille Award honoree. She will be recognized on the 82nd annual Golden Globes telecast, which is set to air live from the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills on CBS on Sunday, Jan. 5.

In addition, Davis — along with the yet-to-be-named 2025 Carol Burnett Award winner, honoring television achievements — will be feted at a separate gala dinner on Friday, Jan. 3, also at the Beverly Hilton. This marks the first time that the Golden Globes will host a special evening dedicated to the recipients of these two honorary awards. The DeMille Award dates to 1952; the Burnett Award originated in 2019.

The DeMille Award has been bestowed on 69 honorees, including DeMille himself and such acting peers of Davis’ as Jodie Foster, Meryl Streep and Jane Fonda. Davis will become the sixth Black performer to receive the award, following Sidney Poitier (1982), Morgan Freeman (2012), Denzel Washington (2016), Oprah Winfrey (2018) and Eddie Murphy (2023).

“Viola Davis is a luminary whose profound talent has continuously shifted the lens through which we see and understand film,” Helen Hoehne, president of the Golden Globes, said in a statement. “Presenting her with the 2025 Cecil B. DeMille Award is not only an honor but a reflection of our admiration for her relentless dedication to her craft and her monumental impact on the industry. Viola’s courage in portraying complex, powerful characters has broken barriers and paved new paths, making her an emblem of excellence and an ideal recipient of this prestigious award.”

Davis became an EGOT in 2023 when she won a Grammy for best audiobook, narration and storytelling recording for her audiobook Finding Me. She has also won an Oscar for Fences, a Primetime Emmy for How to Get Away With Murder and two Tonys for King Hedley II and Fences.

In addition, Davis won a Golden Globe for Fences, in which she appeared opposite fellow DeMille Award winner Washington. 

The Golden Globe Awards, which likes to call itself “Hollywood’s Party of the Year,” is the first major awards show of the season. It’s also the world’s largest awards show to celebrate the best of both film and television.

Nikki Glaser is set to host the show for the first time. Glaser was nominated for her first Primetime Emmy this year for outstanding variety special (pre-recorded) as executive producer and performer on the HBO special Someday You’ll Die. She is currently nominated for her first Grammy Award for best comedy album for that same title.

Multi-Emmy Award-winning producing duo Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner of White Cherry Entertainment will return as executive producing showrunners for the 82nd Golden Globes.  Dick Clark Productions will produce the show. Nominations will be announced on Monday, Dec. 9.

The Golden Globes will air on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025 (8-11 p.m. ET/5-8 p.m. PT) on CBS, and stream on Paramount+ in the U.S. (live and on-demand for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers, or on-demand for Paramount+ Essential subscribers the day after the special airs).

Penske Media Eldridge — a joint venture between Billboard’s parent company Penske Media Corporation and Eldridge — owns Dick Clark Productions, the producer of the Golden Globe Awards.