It’s been a destabilizing year for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the shadowy organization behind the Golden Globes. Last month the group was called out by Time’s Up for not having a single Black member among its ranks, a fact it was forced to address during the televised ceremony. It faced criticism for allegedly unethical behavior, such as members reportedly accepting lavish press trips from streamers in exchange for Golden Globe nominations. The ceremony itself took a major dive in the ratings, falling prey to growing disinterest in awards shows and weakened production due to COVID-19. Now the HFPA is facing a group that’s even more fearsome than Time’s Up and capricious TV viewers combined: Hollywood publicists.
More than 100 P.R. firms signed a Monday letter calling on the HFPA to immediately change its practices, unwilling to let the organization slowly wheel out changes, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“We call on the Hollywood Foreign Press Association to swiftly manifest profound and lasting change to eradicate the longstanding exclusionary ethos and pervasive practice of discriminatory behavior, unprofessionalism, ethical impropriety and alleged financial corruption endemic to the HFPA, funded by Dick Clark Productions, MRC, NBCUniversal and Comcast,” the letter states, per THR.
“To reflect how urgent and necessary we feel this work is,” the letter continues, “we cannot advocate for our clients to participate in HFPA events or interviews as we await your explicit plans and timeline for transformational change.” The letter is signed by a slew of major agencies that represent a wide breadth of Hollywood talent.
Holding back interviews will present massive problems for the HFPA, which is comprised solely of international journalists based in Southern California. Then again, the organization has faced accusations of shady dealings in the past, including denying eligible reporters from joining its ranks in order to monopolize coverage (which the HFPA denies).
Members of the organization remain largely secretive, though some have found ways to speak out against their group’s practices. “We are an archaic organization,” a current member told the Los Angeles Times in February. “I still think the HFPA needs outside pressure to change.” Perhaps a boycott from a slew of powerful, access-withholding publicists is the place to start.
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