The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, a group of foreign entertainment journalists who, despite frequent missteps, turned the Golden Globe Awards into a marquee, died Monday following a string of scandals. It was 80.
The end of the embattled HFPA was announced after California officials agreed to a complicated reorganization plan that allowed the Golden Globe Awards to go ahead.
Eldridge Industries, a holding company owned by billionaire investor Todd Boehly, and Dick Clark Productions, part of Penske Media, have agreed to buy the foreign press organization’s Golden Globe assets for an undisclosed price. Proceeds will go to a new non-profit organization, the Golden Globe Foundation, which will continue the HFPA’s philanthropic efforts; it gave more than $50 million to entertainment-related charities over the past three decades.
Members of the Foreign Press Association — mostly freelance entertainment journalists — will become employees of a yet-to-be-named for-profit entity that will seek to expand the Golden Globes as a brand, according to an Eldridge spokesperson. The former members (there are fewer than 100) will earn $75,000 a year for five years, with duties such as watching movies and television shows and voting for the awards; and producing promotional materials, including writing articles for a Golden Globes website. It was unclear whether the members could continue freelancing (usually celebrity interviews) for publications abroad.
The Los Angeles Times found out in 2021 that the HFPA had no black members, sparking outrage in the entertainment industry that led to NBC canceling the 2022 Globes broadcast. The Ceremony returned to NBC in January under a one-year deal. Eldridge and Dick Clark Productions, who have produced the Globes telecast for decades, have since been looking for a new broadcast network or streaming service partner.
The 81st Golden Globe Awards are scheduled for January 7.
In a statement, Mr. Boehly called the dissolution of the HFPA a “significant milestone in the evolution of the Golden Globes”. He thanked the association’s former president, Helen Hoehne, for helping to push through reforms, including “a robust approach to governance” that had helped professionalize an award organization long known for infighting and scandal.
“We have a great team growing this iconic brand,” said Jay Penske, CEO of Penske Media, in a statement.
For a long time, the foreign press association was seen as unserious and slippery. In the late 1960s, the Federal Communications Commission had the Globes temporarily taken off the air, saying it had “misled the public about how the winners were determined”. In the 1990s and 2000s, Harvey Weinstein, the since-imprisoned co-founder of Miramax, manipulated the organization in ways big and small: expensive gifts and special access to stars and his own time, at a time when other studio executives mocked them. He was often rewarded with a staggering number of nominations.
Hollywood stopped ignoring the organization’s shortcomings in 2021, after the 2020 murder of George Floyd in police custody sparked a national conversation about racism and inequality. More than 100 publicists closed ranks, refusing to make stars available for Golden Globe appearances and contributing to NBC’s cancellation of the 2022 broadcast.
