The LA Times’ recent bombastic investigation into the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the nonprofit organization that selects Golden Globe winners, revealed allegations of corruption, intimidation and self-limitation worth millions of dollars by members.
The report describes HFPA, which has about 90 members, as “struggling to undermine its reputation as a group whose awards or nominations may be influenced by expensive promotions and advertising gifts”. Despite the pandemic and its devastating impact on the film industry, HFPA members received $ 1.929 million in the fiscal year ended June 2020, representing “more than double the level three years earlier,” according to LA Times.
With the virtual Golden Globe scheduled to air live at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills on NBC on February 28, the allegations are raising questions about the legitimacy of the annual Hollywood rite of passage for creators and artists looking to expand their careers. and businesses winning a Golden Globe.
Being scorned by the HFPA can have the effect of stifling careers and opportunities, Rashad Robinson, president of the civil rights organization Color of Change, told Yahoo Finance.
“Those doors that close [by not winning a Golden Globe award] they are economic doors, they are doors to greater opportunities. These are doors where people can build business for the future and that is why this is so important, ”said Color of Change president Rashad Robinson to Yahoo Finance. “That is why these allegations are so blatant, because the role that the Golden Globe played in being a kind of door opener must be questioned.”
When creators and artists in front of and behind the camera are excluded from nominations and awards, the impact on their families and communities is profound, said Robinson. The LA Times report noted that HFPA has no blacks among the 87 international journalists who vote for the Golden Globe Awards.
Regina King, Chloe Zhao and Emerald Fennell nominations mark the first time that HFPA has nominated three women in the “Best Director” category. Barbra Streisand is the only woman to win the Best Director award in the more than 70 years of Globes’ history. (Streisand won for the film “Yentl” in 1984.)
The HFPA is also facing criticism for not giving more recognition to projects led by blacks. A screenwriter for the Netflix series “Emily in Paris”, nominated for a Golden Globe for “Best Comedy Series”, actually called the awards show for giving Michaela Coel’s TV series “I May Destroy You” a cold shoulder .
“There are black creatives who were nominated this year so that we should celebrate and praise,” said Robinson. “The Golden Globe director category is more diverse from a gender perspective, I believe, than ever. So there are some things that we must be sure not to throw away. “
However, Robinson sees the new allegations as an opportunity to examine the rules that govern Golden Globe nominations and whether the HFPA is complying with them.
“If the Hollywood Foreign Press Association is not willing to question their rules, deal with the leadership challenges they have, then they no longer deserve our support,” said Robinson, a key organizer of the #StopHateForProfit advertising boycott against Facebook in 2020 for failing to free its platform from hate speech.
Networks and advertisers who support the broadcast of the Golden Globe Awards should also carefully examine HFPA’s actions, says Robinson. “The networks that run them must question whether or not they are running a system, an award that is fraudulent or has these types of violations,” said Robinson. “We would maintain our support or we would back off at other big events if we thought they were manipulated, right?”
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