As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the 2021 Golden Globes will take place on February 28, about eight weeks before the 93rd Academy Awards. According to Variety, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association made the announcement on Monday morning. Just a week earlier, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that the 93rd Academy Awards telecast has been postponed by two months to April 25, 2021.

In mid-May, Variety was first to report that the Academy was considering delaying the big night in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The organisation said, "To accommodate both domestic and international film and television productions, the HFPA will provide further guidance around eligibility, voting period and revised nominations announcement timing in the coming weeks."