Denzel Washington Doesn’t Win for ‘Gladiator II’ at the 2025 Golden Globe Awards

Denzel Washington will not be adding another trophy to his mantel after the 2025 Golden Globe Awards.

The celebrated actor, 70, was nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture for Gladiator II. He ultimately did not win during the Sunday, January 5, ceremony at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles. Kieran Culkin took home the award for his performance in A Real Pain.

Washington had some stiff competition in the category, with Anora’s Yura Borisov, A Complete Unknown’s Edward Norton, The Brutalist’s Guy Pearce and The Apprentice’s Jeremy Strong rounding out the list of nominees.

Prior to this year’s Golden Globes ceremony, Washington already had a lengthy history with the awards show. He is the most-nominated Black male actor of all time, with 11 total nods throughout his decades-long career.

Washington previously won Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture for Glory in 1990 and Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama for The Hurricane in 2000. He racked up nine additional nominations in the latter category, including for Cry Freedom in 1988, Malcolm X in 1993, Training Day in 2002, American Gangster in 2008, Flight in 2013, Fences in 2017, Roman J. Israel, Esq. in 2018, The Tragedy of Macbeth in 2022 and Gladiator II in 2025.

Washington also received the prestigious Cecil B. DeMille Award — which recognizes outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment — during the 2016 Golden Globes.

Tom Hanks, his costar in Philadelphia, honored Washington at the time, describing him as “the actor of our generation” with a “legendary and noble” body of work.

“Great cinema lasts forever, and a great actor will forever astound us. Now, these clips will remind us that a single name can be a superlative synonymous with extraordinary,” Hanks said while introducing Washington. “A single name can define an artist who is a peer and equal of all of the greatest legends of our craft. If Washington doesn’t ring out loud enough, then let the first name carry all the weight. And that name is Denzel.”

At the time, Washington accepted the award with his wife, Pauletta Washington, and three of the couple’s children — son John David and daughters Katia and Olivia — on stage beside him. (The pair’s son Malcolm was not present.)

After receiving a standing ovation, Denzel joked, “You really do forget everything you’re supposed to do [up here],” adding that he was “speechless” over the honor.