The Golden Globe Awards, which were without a television show, starry red-carpet, host, press, or even a livestream, was in chaos last year. There was scandal over lack of diversity, allegations of sexism and financial mismanagement by members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
The once-famous Hollywood party was known for being the biggest and most booziest. It regularly attracted 18 million viewers. However, the statue-handling ceremony was now a private 90-minute event without any celebrities.
Twitter was used to announce winners, sometimes without specifying for which project they were actually winning.
It is amazing how much a year can impact your life.
After a Los Angeles Times expose that exposed the damage of the telecast, NBC will air the 80-year-old Globes on Tuesday under a one year deal. This is in contrast to the multi-year contracts worth tens or millions of dollars.
After the Globes’ embattled controllers looked into the implementation of top-down reforms, a wave of celebrities are expected to attend.
The code of conduct has been updated with new bylaws. It bans gifts and imposes strict rules regarding travel and other perks. The organization’s pool of award voters has been expanded to include the 87 Los Angeles-based foreign journalists that once ran it.
Are the studios, publicists, and other stakeholders who protested the changes satisfied? Are those changes just the beginning or the final?
“It’s, by far, not 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 be ongoing and that it would take some time.”
Kelly Bush Novak, founder and CEO of ID Public Relations, stated that more needs to be done but supported the efforts made so far.
She stated, “We came together… to ensure that the Globes’ future, in line with our culture, our shared values, and we see commendable, seismic progress.” “I am optimistic that the work will continue.
Novak admitted that not all stakeholders were on board prior to Tuesday’s broadcast, despite the dramatic changes made to restore the glamour of the Globes.
Publicists such as Novak joined forces to fight the HFPA. Studios that include Netflix and WarnerMedia cut ties after questions were raised by the LA Times about corruption and biases over race and orientation.
None of the 87 members of Hollywood Foreign Press Association were Black, and there had been no Black member of the group since 2002.
After a concerted effort to diversify and increase its ranks, 199 people now decide who gets a Globe. This includes 96 HFPA members as well as outsiders from other nations to weaken the power of the old guard. The United States was extended to include Los Angeles as a location for membership.
As we enter the telecast, Globes votes stand at 52% for female and 51.8% for racially or ethnically diverse. This includes 19.6% Latinos, 12.1% Asians, 10.1% Black, 10.1% Middle Eastern, and 10.1% Black. Also, voters include LGBTQIA+. All in all, there are 62 countries represented.
The number of members on the governing board grew from nine to 15. It now includes three Black members. Two of them vote on awards but rules. The organization has now six Black HFPA members, and 14 Black international Globes voter who aren’t.
The most important change was Todd Boehly’s purchase of the Globes. He also owns Globes producer Dick clark productions, the Chelsea soccer team, and is an investor at the Beverly Hilton. In the meantime, the California attorney general has approved the transfer of the voting body’s nonprofit founding status to a for profit model. He intends to keep the HFPA’s charitable work intact with a separate nonprofit entity.
Two independent law firms opened a hotline, and outsiders investigated complaints. A chief diversity officer was appointed, and all Globe vote-casting members of the HFPA were required to complete mandatory sensitivity training in racial harassment, sexual harassment, and sexual orientation.
Michelle Williams, who was nominated for her role in “The Fabelmans,” will be among the many stars expected to attend Tuesday’s event.
She said, “It seems to me that the community has decided that this organisation has really done a lot to reform themselves. We can support change. Like we can hold people responsible and then we are able to support them as they continue on their journey towards becoming a better organization.”
Judd Hirsch was also nominated for the film. We’ll give them another shot.”
Some critics found it helpful to dump news conferences at the centre of insensitive questions being posed to talent who felt obliged to attend. But not all.
“I cannot speak for everyone.” Novak stated that there may be some resistance to participating. Novak stated, “We must recognize the past and will never forget what happened.” It is necessary to create a new future.
Brendan Fraser, who was nominated for his performance as “The Whale,” won’t be there Tuesday. Fraser claimed that he was groped in 2018 by Philip Berk (an ex-HFPA president, who hails from South Africa).
Berk was expelled from Black Lives Matter in 2021, after calling it “a racist hate organization.”
Hoehne spoke of Fraser, saying that he hoped to regain his trust in the future.
Hoehne stated that the same applies to Tom Cruise. He returned all three of his Golden Globes last year in protest. He won a best picture nomination for the long-awaited sequel to “Top Gun: Maverick”, but was not nominated for best actor.
Boehly will lead the HFPA and HFPA members will be paid $75,000 per year as his employees. This is in contrast to current stipends of closer to $5,000. They will vote on nominees and winners from films and TV series that are up for consideration for awards consideration. The LA Times reported that they will write for the website and organize other projects. This was according to a confidential memo from an employee.
The National Association of Black Journalists, Asian American Journalists Association, and LGBTQIA+ organizations recruited 103 new non-voting members. They will not be paid. This creates a two-tier structure that aims to eliminate financial compensation as new recruits join the ranks.
Industry stakeholders were outraged and demanded that the overall Globes voting body be closer to 300. Other reforms aim to combat influence peddling.
Members who are eventually paid employees will be fired without cause. Members are now required to sign an annual code of conduct that covers job performance, ethics, and decorum.
Hoehne admitted that the 80-year-old group was stuck in its ways.
“We had to question many things. These bylaws needed to be questioned and re-examined. What can we do to modernize the association? She said that we had never done it properly and hadn’t addressed it.”
Although the new structure of pay has yet to be implemented, the HFPA has expelled several members who it claimed were violating its standards over the past year.
According to an HFPA spokesperson, one was accused of falsifying signatures on Internal Revenue Service documents. Another case involved sexual harassment, and a third involved fabricating interviews that did not take place.
Boehly acknowledged that the future was uncertain.
“I have nightmares when it doesn’t work, you know?” He admitted that he understood the difficulty of convincing everyone of anything. “We are aware that we must add value, and we also know that we need to be part the solution.”
Source: AP
