With the Golden Globes ceremony fast approaching on Sunday, preparations for the annual show will usually be at a fever height. Stars adapt themselves to gowns and tuxedos and practice their red carpet sound bites, while Hollywood buzzes with questions about who will take home the prizes.
Instead, with the pandemic forcing the 78th Golden Globes to be virtually held, the celebrity’s loose and star-studded show’s luster and splendor will be muted. And in the wake of a Times investigation that has raised new questions about the 87-member Hollywood Foreign Press Assn., Which is splitting the awards, some believe the future of the Globes could be in jeopardy if the organization does not do not undertake reforms.
While the HFPA has been working for the past few years to burn its image, mainly through increased charitable donations, the Times reported that the group continues to struggle with its reputation that voters are easily influenced by expensive newspapers in exotic locations and cozy relationships with studios. , networks and A-listers.
Although the HFPA has refuted the allegations in an antitrust lawsuit by Norwegian journalist Kjersti Flaa, some of the group’s own members have increasingly criticized the alleged ethical decline and self-trafficking. The HFPA said the allegations were unproven and “simply repeated old troops” about the organization. (Flaa’s case was dismissed by a federal judge in November. An amended motion is pending.)
The Times investigation also highlighted the fact that the group currently has no black members, which further fueled criticism about this year’s Globes selection, which is not one of the competitors of the Black-led awards, such as’ Da 5 Bloods ‘,’ Mom, do not include. Rainey’s Black Bottom, “” Judas and the Black Messiah “and” One Night in Miami, “in nominations for the group’s best picture award.
In a statement to the Times on Thursday, a representative of the HFPA said: ‘We are committed to ensuring that our membership reflects with the communities around the world who love film, television and artists who inspire and educate them. We understand that we need to bring in black members, as well as members from other under-represented backgrounds, and we will work immediately to implement an action plan to achieve these goals as soon as possible. ‘
The absence of black members in a group voting for one of the most famous awards in the industry has attracted wide attention on social media and elsewhere.
Director Ava DuVernay, a Golden Globe nominee for ‘Selma’, has started Twitter in response to a headline in the Hollywood Reporter that read “LA Times reveals HFPA has zero black members” and writes: “Revealed? As in, people acting like this are not yet widely known? For years?”
Regina King, ‘One Night in Miami’ director, who this year is the first black woman since DuVernay to receive a Globes directing nod, responds with a poison from rapper Drake showing and smiling.
A representative of the HFPA said the group welcomes all journalists from all ethnic and cultural backgrounds based in Southern California, and writes that the international media is applying. The membership is majority female and that more than 35% are from non-European countries. Furthermore, the HFPA did not rule out changing its rules to enlarge the pool of applicants.
In 2013, the HFPA rejected a black applicant, the British Samantha Ofole-Prince, according to the Wrap a decision that was under controversy in the group. In an interview shortly afterwards, the then president of the HFPA, Theo Kingma, was asked about the lack of black members of the group and told the Wrap: ‘There is no one [Black] because they can not afford to come and live here. I have been a member for 21 years, and I can promise you that I have never heard of races. ”
Kingma said in an interview on Thursday that he was working to address the absence of black members in the voting body. ‘This is something we need to take seriously; times have changed, but unfortunately our statutes do not change so fast, ”he said. He noted that it requires two-thirds of the membership to approve changes.
As for Ofole-Prince, Kingma said: ‘Unfortunately she did not have the [bylaws] requirements. … Her publications paid her less than European publications, and she could not make a living here, which was more the reason to accept her. HFPA access would have really helped her. ”
It is unclear to what extent the renewed criticism will affect the broadcast. A source close to the show said that Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, the Thursday kohosters, will finalize their monologue over the next few days, but give no details.
The program, which airs on NBC, is expected to highlight the HFPA’s charitable work, which included more than $ 5 million in grants last year. The famine-not-for-profit Feeding America is a ‘philanthropic partner’ at the annual show, and a number of leading and essential workers as well as food bank workers were invited by the HFPA to attend the ceremony.
A representative of NBCUniversal, who paid the HFPA $ 27.4 million in licensing fees over the past financial year, declined to comment on this story, as did Dick Clark Productions, which is working with the HFPA to produce the program.
A person at NBCUniversal who knows the matter but is not authorized to comment publicly said that the network supports the HFPA’s plan on diversity. The person also stated that NBCUniversal expects any program provider to maintain integrity and act within the law and that the company has no reason to believe that the HFPA has acted illegally or unethically in any way.
Meanwhile, a number of Hollywood insiders have weighed in with their own criticism.
In response to a tweet about the investigation of film journalist Mark Harris, producer Lynda Obst, whose films include films such as “Interstellar” and programs such as “Good Girls Revolt”, wrote on Sunday that the Globes are a sham that is supported by marketing departments of studios and now streamers. ”
Obst followed up hours later and tweeted with an upside down smiley face and laughing emojis: ‘I want to make it clear as a bell that I as a producer love the Golden Globes and that the HFPA is full of friends of mine all over the world for who I love and intend to continue eating and eating as I have done for decades in eternity! ”
Television presenter Glen Mazzara, whose recognition includes’ The Shield ‘and’ The Walking Dead ‘, wrote following the investigation on Twitter:’ If Hollywood really wants change as they say they do, everyone would this year ‘s program simply boycott. Instead, I suspect it will do business as usual, with people using their acceptance speeches as soapboxes. We like to pontify, right? ‘
Several editor-in-chief Claudia Eller wrote an essay and wrote that the HFPA should change in the light of the Times stories to address long-standing concerns about its ethics and practices. ‘I just hope millions of us will see Sunday’s show, that the organization that is handing out the honor is planning to make all the essential changes needed to clean up the act – as it has so far promised. too many years, ”Eller wrote.
In the days when the stories were published, the Times received a number of emails from people working in the industry who shared their own views on the HFPA. One long-standing public – who has been dealing with the group for decades and who as others did not refuse to be identified for fear of retaliation – call the members of the group “excessive and spoiled children”, adding: “It is still a mystery to me why studios this group whose award is meaningless is, enchanted. ” Another veteran publicist who is a member of both the film and television academies wrote: ‘I hope it buries them and their senseless awards. ‘
Much of the criticism of the ethics and practices of the HFPA has long been known, and the fellows at the group have been lobbied directly from the stage of its own television version. Ricky Gervais, who hosted the awards in 2016, dismissed the Globes as ‘worthless’ and said it was an excuse for HFPA members to take selfies with stars. In a nod to the somewhat shady nature of the organization, Fey and Poehler had a running joke while presenting in 2013, in which they confused the HFPA with the sexually transmitted infection HPV. “The HFPA can lead to cervical cancer,” Poehler said.
Despite the renewed controversy surrounding the HFPA, which follows a long history of scandals the group has endured, the Globes still play a critical role in the awards season, and millions of dollars are spent by the studios each year on the awards. to use as a marketing tool for Oscar hopefuls. As a longtime film preacher put it, ‘Whether it’s film or TV, it’s really hard to have sophisticated adult rates without awards. You need as much as you can get. ‘
While some believe that the continued negative attention will further damage the HFPA unless reforms are made, there is a strong financial incentive throughout Hollywood to protect the Globes, and it will continue to make the show a fun one. and not to be of great importance, even if it is a serious business in which millions of dollars are invested annually.
Asked if the findings of the Times investigation could pose a bigger PR crisis for the HFPA – and added NBC and all other Hollywood entities participating in the Globes – an experienced PR veteran said: ‘It could , but they are such an anomaly when it comes to their scandals and bad behavior. They are called out, but then everyone says, ‘Oh, this is the HFPA, so no surprise.’ ”
Nevertheless, this source concluded: “Their stock is declining.”
Times authors Stephen Battaglio, Stacy Perman and Glenn Whipp contributed to this report.