GOLDEN GLOBES IMPLODE
Tom Cruise Returns 3 + NBC Suspends Telecast
And the Golden Globe goes to…is not a phrase you’ll hear during the next awards season. The Golden Globes, the precursor to the Academy Awards, has finally imploded after years of criticism and controversy. After a February Los Angeles Times article, the upheaval revealed that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s secretive voting group did not include any Black members. The paper’s investigation also uncovered that some members were given a Paris hotel stay during an Emily in Paris junket, just before the Netflix show received two surprising Globe nominations.
In the new “woke” world, the reaction was swift. NBC, HFPA’S TV partner for 25-years, announced it would not televise the 79th Golden Globe awards in 2022 because of inadequate efforts to address diversity and financial impropriety to its “look the other way” approach. “Change of this magnitude takes time and work, and we feel strongly that the HFPA needs time to do it right,” the network statement said.
Before NBC canceled the show, Netflix threatened to boycott the Globes until “meaningful changes” were made. Amazon Studios and Warner Media (HBO) also took a stand and said they would not participate in the awards ceremony. As no one wants to be associated with damaged goods, one of the most influential stars in Hollywood, Tom Cruise, decided to dust off his golden trophies and return them to the HFPA in protest. His Best Actor globes for Jerry McGuire and Born on the Fourth of July and his Best Supporting Actor prize for Magnolia are back in the hands of those who voted for him.
Scarlett Johansson, a five-time Golden Globe nominee, urged the industry to boycott. She recalled sexist questions and remarks by certain HFPA members that bordered on sexual harassment. Her fellow Avengers co-star Mark Ruffalo wrote a detailed post on social media, “Now is the time to step up and right the wrongs of the past…Honestly, as a recent winner of a Golden Globe, I cannot feel proud or happy about being a recipient of this award.” Ava DuVernay, director of Selma, wrote on Twitter. “The ripple effects echo through our industry, especially for Black artists and artists of color. Kudos to all the activists, artists, publicists, and executives who took a stand to make this so.”
Scandals have plagued the Globes and its members for decades. In one of the most famous, the HFPA honored Pia Zadora in 1982 for her film Butterfly. That same year she received a Razzie for Worst New Star and The New York Times wrote that she is “spectacularly inept.” Zadora’s wealthy husband, Israeli billionaire Meshulem Riklis, flew members of the HFPA to a screening in Las Vegas a few weeks before voting. The scandal forced CBS to sever its ties with the organization.
An HFPA insider told the New York Post in a 2015 investigation. “Even though everyone in the industry knows that the awards lack any real credibility, they still generate huge publicity for their movies. And it’s a lot easier to curry favor with a few dozen HFPA members than it is to suck up to the Academy.”
The HFPA has now been forced to reform. The group has pledged to become more diverse, expand its membership and eliminate studio perks. “Regardless of the next air date of the Golden Globes, implementing transformational changes as quickly and as thoughtfully as possible remains the top priority for our organization.”
