NEW YORK – With no TV show, starry red carpet, host, press, or even live stream, that Golden Globe Awards were in chaos over the past year after a scandal erupted over a lack of diversity, allegations of sexism and ethical and financial failings among members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
Once known as Hollywood’s biggest and wettest party, regularly drawing 18 million TV viewers, handing out statues was a big deal reduced to a 90 minute private event without celebrities at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
Winners were announced on Twitter, often without specifying which project a person actually won.
What a difference a year can make.
After dumping the TV show following a damaging disclosure by the Los Angeles Times, NBC will seat the ailing 80-year-old Globes back on the air Tuesday under a one-year deal, as opposed to tens of millions of dollars in multi-year deals of the past.
A wave of celebrities are planning to attend, along with celebrity presenters and Funny host Jerrod Carmichael after the Globes’ embattled regulators dug deep into the work of implementing top-down reforms.
There is now a strict code of conduct, updated bylaws, a ban on gifts and new rules for accepting travel and other industry perks. Controversial press conferences were halted, and the pool of award voters expanded beyond the 87 Los Angeles-based foreign journalists who once ran the organization.
But are the powerful publicists, studios and other interest groups who boycotted in protest happy with the changes? And are these changes the beginning – or closer to the end?
“It’s far from over,” said German journalist Helen Hoehne, who took over as President of the HFPA a year and a half ago. “We always said when we started this journey that it would last and it would take time.”
Kelly Bush Novak, CEO and founder of A-list PR firm ID, said more needs to be done but supports the steps taken so far.
“We have come together … to secure the future of globes in alignment with our culture and shared values as an industry, and we are seeing commendable and seismic progress,” she said. “I am optimistic that the work will continue.”
Still, Novak acknowledged that not everyone involved is on board ahead of Tuesday’s broadcast, despite sweeping changes aimed at restoring the Globes’ luster.
Last year, publicists like Novak banded together to fight the HFPA, and studios that included Netflix and WarnerMedia severed ties with the organization after the LA Times raised questions about corruption and a range of racial prejudice and sexual orientation had raised.
None of the 87 Hollywood Foreign Press Association members was black and the group has not had a black member since at least 2002.
Now, after an effort to expand and diversify its ranks, 199 people decide who gets a Globe, a mix of 96 HFPA members and outsiders from other countries brought in to dilute the power of the old guard. Membership eligibility has expanded from Los Angeles to throughout the United States.
Heading into the show, 52% of Globes voters are female and 51.8% are racially and ethnically diverse, including 19.6% Latino, 12.1% Asian, 10.1% Black, and 10.1% from the Middle East East. Voters also include those who are LGBTQIA+. A total of 62 countries are represented.
The board of directors has been expanded from nine to 15 and includes three black members, two of whom vote on rules and other matters, but not awards. In all, the organization now has six Black HFPA members and 14 non-member Black International Globes voters.
Perhaps the most significant change: The Globes were bought by billionaire Todd Boehly, who also owns the Beverly Hilton, Globes producer Dick Clark Productions and the Chelsea football team. He is transitioning the electoral body from its founding non-profit status to a for-profit model, subject to approval by the California Attorney General. He plans to maintain the HFPA’s charitable work with a separate charitable entity.
A hotline, run by two independent law firms, was set up to investigate complaints from outsiders. A Chief Diversity Officer was hired, and mandatory awareness training on race, sexual harassment and sexual orientation was introduced, which is required for every HFPA member casting Globe votes.
Michelle Williams, who was nominated for her role in ‘The Fabelmans,’ is among dozens of stars looking to attend on Tuesday.
“I feel like the community as a whole has decided that this organization has really done a lot of work to reform itself and that we can support the change, like we can hold people accountable and then hold them on theirs.” continue to support them on their journey to becoming a better organization,” she said.
Judd Hirsch, who was nominated for the same film, added: “We’ll be there. We’ll give them another chance.”
Placing press conferences at the center of insensitive questions posed to talent feeling obligated to appear helped chill some critics, but not all.
“I can’t speak for everyone. There may be some reluctance to participate,” Novak said. “We must acknowledge the past and will never forget the damage done. In order to manifest a new future, this is required.”
Brendan Fraser, nominated for his performance in The Whale won’t be there Tuesday. In 2018, Fraser said he was groped by Philip Berk, a former HFPA president from South Africa.
Berk was expelled in 2021 after calling Black Lives Matter a “racist hate movement”.
“I just hope that over time we can earn his trust back,” Hoehne said of Fraser.
The same, said Hoehne, applies to Tom Cruise. Last year he returned his three Golden Globes in protest. With a nod for best picture for its long-awaited sequel, Top Gun: Maverick, he was axed for best actor this year.
Under Boehly’s leadership, HFPA members will earn $75,000 per year as his associates, as opposed to current stipends, which are closer to $5,000. They vote on the nominations and winners among the films and television series submitted for the awards. They will write for the organization’s website and organize other projects, the LA Times said, citing a confidential staff memo it reviewed.
The 103 new non-voting members, who will be recruited with help from the National Association of Black Journalists, the Asian-American Journalists Association and LGBTQIA+ organizations, will not be paid, creating a two-tier structure aimed at eliminating the financial compensation taint Eliminate as new recruits come on board.
Outraged industry stakeholders had demanded that the Globes’ overall vote be closer to 300. Other reforms aim to combat perceptions of influence.
As paid employees, members are dismissed without giving a reason. They are now required to sign a code of conduct each year, covering job performance, decency and ethical behavior.
The group of 80-year-olds was stuck, admitted Hoehne.
“We had to question a lot. We had to look at these statutes and say, OK, how can we make them better? How can we modernize the association? We had never really done it and hadn’t addressed it,” she said.
Although the new salary structure has not yet been implemented, over the past year the HFPA has ousted several members from the service it accused of violating its standards.
One was accused of forging signatures on Internal Revenue Service documents, another related to sexual harassment and a third involved falsifying interviews that never took place, according to an HFPA spokesman.
Boehly himself acknowledged that the future is uncertain.
“I also have nightmares where it doesn’t work, you know? I get it, you can’t always convince everyone of something,” he told the LA Times. “We know we need to add value, and we know we need to be part of the solution.”
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Associated Press writer Krysta Fauria contributed to this report.
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Follow Leanne Italie on Twitter at http://twitter.com/litalie
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