NBC announced Monday it’s stepping away as broadcast partner of the 2022 Golden Globes after the organization that puts on the annual awards, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), was hit by multiple controversies over the last few months.
“We continue to believe that the HFPA is committed to meaningful reform,” NBC said in a statement. “However, change of this magnitude takes time and work, and we feel strongly that the HFPA needs time to do it right. As such, NBC will not air the 2022 Golden Globes. Assuming the organization executes on its plan, we are hopeful we will be in a position to air the show in January 2023.”
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In response to the move by NBC, as well as growing criticism by Hollywood heavyweights, the HFPA issued a statement Monday outlining its “Reform Milestones,” which include a timeline stretching from May to the first week of August.
“We invite our partners in the industry to the table to work with us on the systemic reform that is long overdue, both in our organization as well as within the industry at large,” the group stated on Monday.
The changes include the following:
-Allowing all members to vote from day one of their membership
-Continue outreach to potential new member candidates
-Invite the new DEI Consultant and other outside experts to conduct mandatory member trainings for DEI and sexual harassment
-Holding a member vote to amend the group’s bylaws
-New member admission by August 2
-New Board elected, including independent members
As a protest of the HFPA, Tom Cruise returned his past three Golden Globes to the organization on Monday. Celebs including director filmmaker Ava DuVernay praised Cruise for his defiance of the organization.
She wrote on Twitter: “That time that Tom Cruise sent his @goldenglobes for Jerry Maguire, Magnolia and Born on the Fourth of July in an actual box to the reception desk of HFPA to stand against their sexist, homophobic, racist practices of exclusion, harassment and bias.”
As previously reported, the HFPA came under fire earlier this year for not having a single Black member among its ranks of 87 international journalists.
A series of explosive reports in February by the Los Angeles Times revealed details on the group’s membership ranks and included interviews with more than 50 people who described self-dealing, questionable ethics, and a recent lawsuit by Norwegian journalist Kjersti Flaa, who was denied membership.
She accused the HFPA of operating like a cartel that excludes qualified foreign journalists to protect the “professional turf” of its current members, while improperly subsidizing their income.
Adding to the controversies, the group’s former president Philip Berk sparked anger last month for sending out an email to members and staff calling Black Lives Matter a “racist hate movement.”
In response to growing outrage, the HFPA vowed reforms during the show’s February 2021 broadcast. But industry insiders said the proposed changes didn’t go far enough. Last week, Netflix and Amazon Studios cut ties with the HFPA until sweeping reforms happen. WarnerMedia followed by halting its relationship with the organization.
The L.A. Times reports revealed NBC paid the HFPA $27.4 million to air the Globes in 2020.
