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Over its nearly eight-decade history, the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn., the tiny, 86-member group of foreign journalists that doles out the Golden Globes, has weathered a series of embarrassing scandals and lawsuits and has been mercilessly mocked even from the stage of its own awards show. Still, the group has never faced as grave a threat to its very existence as it does today.
In the wake of a Feb. 21 Times investigation that highlighted allegations of ethical lapses by the group as well as the lack of any Black members in the organization, the HFPA has faced blistering criticism inside Hollywood and beyond. Viewer ratings for this year’s Golden Globes show, which was held under a cloud of controversy, plummeted more than 60% from last year, placing the group in deeper peril.
“D-day,” as some in the entertainment industry were calling it, was looming.
It was just two weeks before May 6, the date when the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. the group that puts on the Golden Globes had promised to unveil a slate of reforms aimed at “transformational change.” The pledge had come after a Times investigation highlighted allegations of financial and ethical lapses by the group and pointed out that not one of its 86 members is Black, spurring outrage in Hollywood.
On that April Tuesday, a handful of consultants for the embattled association met with a group of activists and publicists who’d been vocal in their criticism. The publicists represented a contingent of more than 100 powerful firms who’d declared that their clients would boycott the HFPA refusing to participate in screenings, interviews or award shows until the organization reformed. The activists included representatives from Color of Change and Time’s Up, including director Ava DuVe
After a Times investigation, the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. vowed to make sweeping changes, but the group behind the Golden Globes has struggled along the way.
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