Hollywood is already preparing for next year’s award season. On Wednesday, the Golden Globes announced that actress, producer, and former Golden Globes winner Viola Davis will receive the Cecil B. DeMille Award at its 2025 award ceremony. Created in honor of famed director Cecil B. DeMille in 1952, the eponymous award is a prestigious honor celebrating the outstanding contributions of some of Hollywood’s greatest talents.
“Viola Davis is a luminary whose profound talent has continuously shifted the lens through which we see and understand film,” Helen Hoehne, president of the Golden Globes, said in a press release shared with theGrio. “Presenting her with the 2025 Cecil B. DeMille Award is not only an honor but a reflection of our admiration for her relentless dedication to her craft and her monumental impact on the industry. Viola’s courage in portraying complex, powerful characters has broken barriers and paved new paths, making her an emblem of excellence and an ideal recipient of this prestigious award.”
Viola Davis won her first Golden Globe award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Denzel Washington’s film “Fences” (2016). She subsequently secured a SAG Award and an Oscar for that performance. As of 2024, she holds the record for the most Oscar nominations for a Black woman in history. Similarly, Davis became the third Black woman and 18th person to reach EGOT status after winning a Grammy in 2023.
Having previously been honored by Time100 for her influence and by the Public Counsel’s William O Douglas Award for her commitment to social justice causes, Davis’ work transcends the scope of entertainment serving as an activist, philanthropist, and New York Times bestselling author. In 2012, Davis and her husband, Julius Tennon, founded their production company, JuVee Productions, with a mission to give voice to the voiceless through strong, impactful narratives. Creating scripted and non-scripted television, film, documentary, theater, and digital immersive content for global audiences, JuVee aims to be at the forefront of innovation while developing and producing a library of socially relevant entertainment defined by inclusion.
As the 2025 recipient of the Cecil B. DeMille Award, Davis joins a class of 69 honorees including Black stars like Morgan Freeman, Sidney Poitier, Denzel Washington, Oprah Winfrey, and Eddie Murphy.
The full list of 2025 Golden Globe nominees will be announced on December 9; the award show will air on January 5.
