Golden Globes: Hidden Fences Isn't a Thing, Guys

There were multiple mix-ups of Hidden Figures and Fences

Amanda Bell Jan. 8, 2017 at 7:08 p.m. PT

The 2017 Golden Globes were a hot mess from the very start, and not always the intentional, booze-induced, good-humored variety either. Jimmy Fallon's teleprompter fail moment was a slip, but the real blunder of the night started long before that, when red carpet correspondent Jenna Bush began talking to artist Pharrell Williams about his nomination for Hidden Fences.

The problem was, there's no such movie with that title. As in, that is not a thing that exists.

Williams was nominated for his score on Hidden Figures, and others, including Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Motion Picture winner Viola Davis, were nominated for their work on Fences, but Hidden Fences isn't a thing.

Check out our complete Golden Globes coverage here

In a year when the Golden Globes outright celebrated their own avoidance of the "#OscarsSoWhite" controversy from 2016 in a sing-song opening number that declared its nominees were more than just white, the slip was cringe-worthy and did not bode well for Bush's apparent appreciation for black films. But it only got worse from there.

As Michael Keaton read off the nominees for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture, Hidden Fences again came up when he read off Octavia Spencer's name. The movie she's actually nominated for is -- wait for it -- Hidden Figures.

Naturally, Twitter exploded in a flurry of fury over the mishap, especially since the second one took place during the telecast, and it's not just the fact that a film title was misread that caused so much irk. It's also the unspoken but obvious reason for the slip: that two stories about predominantly black individuals were far too easily mixed up tonight because they'd been either altogether ignored or at least marginalized in the minds of those who mixed up their titles.

Second time tonight someone has conflated #Hiddenfigures and #Fences on air. This is just so maddening. #GoldenGlobes
— Lindsay MacDonald (@lindsayjoane) January 9, 2017

None of the other film or TV titles got so butchered by speakers...

Fellow white folks: Hidden FIGURES is about Black women owning the Space Race. FENCES is about racism & baseball. FFS ACTUALLY #GoldenGlobes
— Shelby Knox (@ShelbyKnox) January 9, 2017

The whole "Hidden Fences" thing is actually a big deal. A slip-up that's so, so indicative of the biggest problem in Hollywood.
— Carina MacKenzie (@cadlymack) January 9, 2017

You know who stars in #HiddenFences... Garcelle Ashanti Brandy Sanaa Bring It On Union 😑
— Gabrielle Union (@itsgabrielleu) January 9, 2017

This #HiddenFences keeps happening cause racist white people don't see different films they just see black people #GoldenGlobes
— Eliel Cruz-Lopez (@elielcruz) January 9, 2017

Somewhere, a Hollywood executive just green lit an actual movie called "Hidden Fences".
— Ronan Farrow (@RonanFarrow) January 9, 2017

So, yeah. Hidden Fences is not a thing, take note one and all, and let's not let this happen again.