Meryl Streep and Taylor Swift Crash Trevor Noah’s Grammys Opening Monologue
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
The 2024 Grammys mark Trevor Noah’s fourth consecutive year as the host of music’s biggest night.
In his opening monologue, Noah took a moment to praise all musicians — nominated at this year’s awards or otherwise. “These people write the soundtracks of our lives,” he said.
More from The Hollywood Reporter
How Paris Jackson Erased Her Tattoos for the Grammy Awards Red Carpet
Dua Lipa Opens Grammys With Dance-Heavy Performance Highlighting "Training Season" and "Houdini"
Killer Mike Detained at Grammys After Three Wins During Pre-Show
The comedian pointed at Barbie music producer Mark Ronson’s table and called him one of the greatest producers of all time. He continued by saying that Ronson’s mother-in-law, Meryl Streep, would be sitting at the table right there.
Then, Streep herself, accidentally crashed his opener by arriving at her seat late. The Oscar-winning actress apologized to the host, and he told her she didn’t need to.
“This moment right here. Do you know what this means? The Grammys is gonna win an Oscar,” he joked. “I don’t know how. I want to thank both Academies. Thank you so much.”
He specifically shouted out how the Grammys nominations this year were dominated by women, naming SZA, Olivia Rodrigo, Miley Cyrus, Lana Del Rey, Janelle Monaé, boygenius and Taylor Swift — as the “Anti-Hero” songstress, who could make Grammys history Sunday night, then walked into the ceremony a little late, too.
With Swift’s head-turning entrance, Noah made it a purpose to say he doesn’t think it’s fair that football fans are annoyed that the NFL keeps showing her during Kansas City Chiefs games (where her boyfriend Travis Kelce is a tight end).
“Like she’s controlling the cameras at the games, right? Let her live,” Noah said. ” In fact, tonight on Taylor’s behalf, you know what I’m gonna do? I’m gonna give her a break. Every time they mention Taylor Swift, I’m gonna get revenge. Every time someone says Taylor Swift, I’m gonna cut the cameras to someone who played football,” he joked, before cutting to Terry Crews in the 2024 Grammys audience.
“You like that, Terry Crews? You better fix your face, Terry,” Noah continued. “Do you work for the CIA, Terry? I can read lips, Terry. You better watch what you say.”
The comedian then mentioned that Swift is only one of four artists who has ever won album of the year three times, and if she wins it this year for Midnights, she will be the first person to take home the award four times.
Toward the end of his monologue, Noah called out TikTok after Universal pulled all of its artists’ music from TikTok.
“So right now, the CEO of TikTok is probably sitting at home watching the show, eating ice cream, crying, seeing all of his exes in one room,” Noah said. “And you know what, TikTok? Shame on you. Shame on you for ripping off all of these artists. Yeah, shame on you! How dare you do that? That’s Spotify’s job.
Throughout the show, Noah made his way through the audience and helped introduce awards. During one of his bits early in the show, he stressed the importance of keeping acceptance speeches short, so that they could keep the show under 10 hours. If people decided to give longer speeches, he noted there would be consequences.
“We’re gonna get Kelly Clarkson to cover one of your songs better than you ever could,” he said, before adding. ” Also, I know everyone is excited that Dr. Dre is here, but please stop asking him for a prescription for Ozempic. He’s not that kind of doctor. He has a PhD in literature.”
Later, the host took a moment to riff with Billy Joel, who performed his first new single in 30 years at the 2024 Grammys, joking that between the two of them, they have sold out Madison Square Garden 152 times. (Joel is responsible for 150 of those.)
“Billy, everyone counts,” Noah responded when Joel asked how many of those shows the comedian was responsible for. “I know what we worked on together. I just know that we’ve put equal effort in, Billy, and that’s all that matters.”
Noah has hosted before, however, this is the first time he served as the evening’s emcee while up for an award. He was competing against Wanda Sykes, Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle for best comedy album, with Chappelle taking home the awards earlier in the night.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter ahead of the awards show, Noah opened up about competing against his fellow comedians for the trophy.
“I don’t ever take those moments for granted. I think to myself how crazy it is to even be in the same category as these people,” he said about competing against some of his “heroes.” “These are my mentors and my friends. This is a surreal experience.”
The former Daily Show host also shared that he is rooting for all the artists who could possibly break records at the 2024 Grammys, including Swift and SZA.
“Any time history can be made, I’m always in favor of it because I always think, ‘If you can just knock down that first domino, then hopefully the rest follow,'” he explained. “There’s just something magical about seeing somebody’s journey culminate in the making of history.”
The 2024 Grammys are taking place at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles and airing live from 5-8:30 p.m. PT on CBS and Paramount+ With Showtime. The awards are produced by Fulwell 73 Productions for the Recording Academy, with Ben Winston, Raj Kapoor and Jesse Collins serving as executive producers.
Best of The Hollywood Reporter
