On the eve of Sunday’s Golden Globe broadcast, Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. continues to face a reaction against its response to criticisms that the voting body does not have a single black member.
Following an investigation by the Times that raised new questions about HFPA and the composition of its members, several figures and industry organizations, including directors Ava DuVernay and JJ Abrams, actors Ellen Pompeo and Sterling K. Brown, comedian Amy Schumer and Time’s Up, called on the organization to cultivate inclusion and address diversity in its ranks.
The organization’s official response to calls for reform also drew fire from some of its own members.
In an email sent on Friday to all members and addressed to the HFPA COO and General Counsel Gregory Goeckner, one member, Dierk Sindermann, contested the statements made by former HFPA president Theo Kingma in an interview to The Times.
Kingma said he was working to resolve the absence of black members in the polling station. “It is something that we must look at seriously; times have changed, but unfortunately our status does not change so quickly, ”he said on Thursday.
In his e-mail, Sindermann, who represents Austria, Germany and Switzerland on the voting body, expressed surprise that Kingma had spoken out, saying: “I may have misunderstood you as an HFPA lawyer, but as I recall, you asked members not to publicly comment on novels. Does this rule no longer apply? ”According to the email reviewed by The Times.
In 2013, the HFPA rejected a black candidate, the British Samantha Ofole-Prince, a decision that was the subject of some controversy within the group, according to the Wrap.
Regarding Ofole-Prince, Kingma told The Times: “Unfortunately, she did not fulfill the [bylaws] requirements. … Her publications paid less than European ones, and she couldn’t make a living here, which was all the more reason to accept her. Access to HFPA would have really helped. “
But Sindermann contradicted Kingma, saying she was rejected because she did not receive “enough votes”.
“Many members are probably unaware that in 2013 there was a controversy over black candidate Samantha Ofole-Prince,” wrote Sindermann, calling Kingma’s comments about her “deaf at best and simply untrue.”
Goeckner responded to Sindermann’s e-mail saying, “Please, we are not going to discuss this over e-mail.”
Ofole-Prince could not be reached for comment. Kingma and Sindermann declined to comment.
Organization members provided confused, if not conflicting, comments on the matter.
During a Zoom roundtable on Wednesday with Jane Fonda, this year’s winner of Cecil B. DeMille, the actress told HFPA members: “I must say, get more women. I’m just the 17th time a woman has won [the career achievement award]. And also, we need to help you get more black members, ”according to a transcript of the exchange reviewed by The Times.
“They didn’t sign up and nobody wrote about it,” said a member to the actress. “We are open to anyone, as long as you live in Southern California and write for an international magazine. The press never noticed that. “
On Friday, former HFPA president Meher Tatna said that the association had not had a black member for at least 20 years and could not remember who that individual was, adding that “it was before my time, but I didn’t I remember which country he came from, ”according to an interview with Variety.
“We are fully committed to ensuring that our association reflects the communities around the world who love film, TV and the artists who inspire and educate them,” said an HFPA representative in a statement before The Times. “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.”
HFPA said it “will address this in our program on Sunday,” according to the organization’s Instagram.