Justice For The Golden Globes Piano Player

When celebrities’ award shows speeches run too long, it’s tradition to nudge them off the stage. Instead of simply cutting them off, music begins playing to “politely” let them know they should wrap it up. At the 2023 Golden Globes, a number of stars picked on pianist Chloe Flower for seemingly interrupting their speeches. However, host Jerrod Carmichael clarified that Flower wasn’t playing them off and that the music being heard was actually just a track.

Carmicheal gave Flower a shoutout after hearing people’s frustrations both in person and online. “We’re very lucky to have tonight, someone who is an incredible, incredible pianist, Chloe Flower,” Carmichael said as the show returned from a commercial break. “People on Twitter are mad like she’s playing people off, like it’s actually a track, just so you know.”

The comedian continued praising Flower by saying, “We’re very lucky to have you. Chloe, thank you very much for being here.”

If you were paying attention to the show, you likely heard quite a few familiar tunes played by Flower, like the Sex and the City theme as well as tunes from The Little Mermaid. The thing is, though, Flower was only playing on an actual piano in between commercial breaks, and she wasn’t responsible for any of the recorded music that was playing people off the stage.

Carmichael was right on the money when he said he Golden Globes show was lucky to have Flower perform. Apart from being a hit pianist, Flower is a talented composer, writer, and producer. In February 2019, Flower went viral for performing “Money” with Cardi B at the Grammys. Over the years, the New York-based artist has also teamed up with Celine Dion, NAS, 2 Chainz, Swae Lee, and more.

With Flower being so talented, people assumed she was tickling the ivories when speeches went over time. Actor Michelle Yeoh was not pleased:

As viewers soon learned, Flower was not responsible for kicking actors off the stage. Even before there was clarity about Flower’s role, many people on Twitter came to her defense after hearing celebrities pick on her.

“LEAVE THE DAMN PIANO PLAYER ALONE,” one person tweeted.

“This poor piano player just doing her job at the #Golden Globes,” another wrote.

“This poor piano player is getting so much heat 😅,” another tweet read.

Flower probably didn’t expect to go viral for a song she never played, but she had supporters the whole night:

In the end, it’s likely the producers who were making the decision to cut speeches short, but Flower wound up taking the brunt of the blame for most of the night. Even with the heckling, she managed to continue playing the show in and out from commercials with her music all night long. If you’re on Team Flower, you can listen to her latest single “Golden Hour.” I mean, if she can slay the SATC theme song on the piano, what can’t she do?