Who is 2018 Golden Globes host Seth Meyers? And how will he handle Hollywood harassment?

The atmosphere at this weekend's Golden Globes may be more sombre than usual, with stars using the film and TV award ceremony as an opportunity to respond to a spate of high-profile sexual harassment allegations that has shamed Hollywood in recent months.

In this climate, being asked to open the evening with a few light-hearted jokes might seem like an unenviable task. But this year's host, comedian Seth Meyers, has earned a reputation for his sharp-witted takes on serious current affairs in his NBC talk show Late Night, having taken over from the previous host, Jimmy Fallon, in 2014. 

His show attracts an average nightly audience of 1.5 million, and has made the Saturday Night Live alumnus a familiar face in the US, where he has previously hosted the Emmys and the White House Correspondents' Dinner.

What does he think about the 'black dress' protest?

This year's red carpet will be less colourful than usual, with film stars adhering to a strict all-black dress code, in support of the Time's Up initiative, aimed at raising awareness about sexual harassment in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal.

Meyers has been a vocal supporter of the protest. This week, he told US Weekly magazine, "I think that the solidarity we’re seeing right now is really exciting."

In what he called "a remarkably bad year", he felt the protest represented a cause for "optimism going forward, especially when you see the solidarity and you see how these really smart, really empathetic women are coming together as one, so I think this is hopefully the beginning of that.” However, he added: "But I think it’s important that no guy tries to take credit for wearing a black tuxedo."

He 'won't ignore' the issue of sexual harassment in his speech

"It’s nice to have an elephant in the room. There’s nothing more helpful than something everybody’s thinking about," Meyers has told the New York Times, referring to the ongoing sexual harassment revelations.

Speaking to US Weekly, he added: "We are in a unique situation this year where more than any one movie or any one TV show, there’s this other thing that everybody’s talking about, so we don’t want to ignore it, but we also want to make sure that once we get past it we can turn it over to the people who did great work.”

In fact, his wife is an expert on the subject

Meyers's wife of four years, Alexi Ashe, is a human rights attorney with experience dealing with sexual harassment and assault. The comedian recently told the Hollywood Reporter he would have been reluctant to take the Golden Globes gig without her.

"For two years she prosecuted misdemeanor sexual assault [cases]," Meyers has said. "This is stuff we talk about all the time at home, so this year has been a convergence of our worlds. I don't know if I would've wanted to do this without her counsel in talking about it, and she's a smart enough woman to know that I probably shouldn't have done it without her help." 

We shouldn't expect any Trump jokes

Last year, the Golden Globes took place just 12 days before Donald Trump's inauguration – and that year's host Jimmy Fallon spent much of his opening monologue mocking the president-elect. But Meyers is not planning to follow in Fallon's shoes.

"I'm reserving the right to change my mind, but especially this year with everything that's happened in Hollywood, it seems far more important to have the focus there as opposed to anything that's happening in Washington," he has said.

Although Meyers is planning to stay silent about Trump, there is no guarantee that Trump will to return the favour. Last year, he tweeted that he felt he had been "attacked" by Meryl Streep in her acceptance speech at the award ceremony, labelling her "one of the most over-rated actresses in Hollywood" and a "Hillary [Clinton]-flunky".

"If he tweets that he's disappointed we didn't bring him up, I'd be thrilled," Meyers said. "That would fly in the face of what currently he believes is the problem, which is that we won't stop talking about him."

(Although his Trump jokes might just have kick-started his election campaign)

Speaking at the 2011 White House Correspondents' Dinner, Meyers entertained the crowd with a lengthy stand-up set poking fun at the businessman, who was then rumoured to be planning a bid for the presidency. “Donald Trump has been saying he will run for president as a Republican – which is surprising, since I just assumed he was running as a joke," he quipped. 

Trump, who was present during his speech, reportedly sat in grim silence throughout the teasing, wearing an expression of "locked, unmovable rage". It has since been suggested that this night of public ribbing was a factor in his decision to run for election in 2015.

When are the Golden Globes?

The 75th Golden Globes will take place on Sunday January 7, with the first guests arriving on the red carpet from around 5pm Pacific Time (1am GMT). Although no UK television channel will be broadcasting the ceremony, The Telegraph will be reporting on events live throughout the night.