Hours after NBC and Dick Clark Productions – the Golden Globes’ broadcasting network and production partner – asked the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. to oust a former president over an email calling Black Lives Matter a ‘hate movement’ is the member outside the organization.
“Phil Berk is effective immediately, and is no longer a member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn.” Reads a statement issued by the HFPA on Tuesday.
The move follows a report by Times that South African-born Phil Berk, a current member and long-term president of the HFPA, sent an e-mail on Sunday about Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors. The post touched a firestorm among many members of the organization, a group of international journalists handing out the annual Golden Globes.
In the email, Berk shared an article calling BLM a ‘racist hate movement’ and describing Cullors as’ the self-proclaimed ‘trained Marxist’. “It was sent to the members of the association, its staff and the group’s general board and chief operating officer, Gregory Goeckner.
In an internal email sent by DCP, the company told employees: ‘We unequivocally condemn the actions and words of a member of the HFPA. We called on the board to act swiftly and decisively. We also indicated that this response should be an example of how they intend to act against members’ behaviors that violate their recent commitment to reform and improve racial equality. We have been working with the organization for months to guide and push them toward meaningful change. Although we have remained hopeful about progress, it is a very important reminder that there are members who do not support this work. This is unacceptable. ”
In a public statement, the company said: ‘We are in solidarity with our black colleagues, artists, journalists and executives who have been hurt or overlooked by the HFPA. We were disgusted by the racist rhetoric spread by a member yesterday. We have been encouraged by the very strong statements that the HFPA has made in the past about improving their organization on issues of racial reform and equity. The actions and statements of this member do not correspond to the direction in which the HFPA has publicly stated that it has started. ”
DCP privately sent a letter to the HFPA on Monday night asking for Berk’s immediate suspension.
NBC also issued a statement on Tuesday reflecting DCP.
‘NBC strongly condemns Phil Berk’s actions and calls for his immediate suspension. While we are still waiting for the details of HFPA’s forthcoming reform plan, swift action on this front is an essential element for NBC to continue with the HFPA and the Golden Globes. ”
The statement could be read if NBC lays the hammer on the organization, according to someone familiar with the dynamics between NBC and the HFPA, but not authorized to speak in public.
Until now, DCP has remained silent, working behind the scenes with the HFPA and not speaking out in public. According to a concerned individual, but not authorized to speak, it waited until the association announced a set of reforms in early May. However, the Berk email showed a ‘very blatant display of racism’, and the company felt it was necessary to say something in public, the person said.
Earlier, the board of the HFPA rejected Berk’s email in his statement in a statement saying: “the views expressed in the article,” which Berk shared, “do not reflect – in any way form or form “the views and values of the HFPA. The HFPA condemns all forms of racism, discrimination and hate speech and finds such language and content unacceptable.”
The HFPA came under pressure because he did not have one Black members as well as for allegations of ethical and financial decay made in a Stop investigating into the group.
Last month, the group behind the Golden Globe Awards promised to make “transformation change” and retain a strategic diversity advisor, Shaun Harper, Professor of Racial, Gender and LGBTQ Issues at the USC’s Marshall School of Business, and an outside law firm, Ropes & Gray, to review and revise its policies and membership requirements and bylaws .
The HFPA, which has reached out to the National Assn in recent weeks. Black Journalists and the NAACP plan to announce a set of reforms on May 6.
The author of the Times, Meg James, contributed to this report.