The Hollywood Foreign Press Association wasn’t shy about addressing its diversity scandal while announcing its 2022 Golden Globe nominations.
A large shadow was cast across this year’s Golden Globe nominations after NBC announced it wouldn’t broadcast the show until it addressed some key issues it was having when it came to the diversity of its voting pool.
The press association, often ridiculed, even by its own hosts, this year went from punchline to pariah. After an Los Angeles Times’ expose detailed some of the HFPA’s unethical behavior and revealed that its 87 voting members didn’t include one Black journalist, studios said they would boycott the Globes and more than 100 PR films said their clients wouldn’t participate until the HFPA swiftly implemented “profound and lasting change.” Tom Cruise even returned his three Globes to the group’s headquarters.
Since being engulfed by backlash earlier this year, the group has added a chief diversity officer; overhauled its board; inducted 21 new members, including six Black journalists; brought in the NAACP on a five-year partnership; and updated its code of conduct. After nine months of reform, reorganization and many pledges to do better, the HFPA took the stage at the Beverly Hilton to announce its film and television nominations for the 2022 show.
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Helen Hoehne, president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association spoke about the changes the organization has made since being criticized for a lack of diversity.
(AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
However, the controversy was at the forefront of the conversation, with Helen Hoehne HFPA president, immediately taking the stage to comment on the many changes that the organization has made over the course of the last few months to fix its damaged reputation and make the following nominees feel honored as they once did.
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Helen Hoehne, president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, left, and Snoop Dogg, pose following the nominations event for 79th annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Monday, Dec. 13, 2021, in Beverly Hills, Calif. The 79th annual Golden Globe Awards will be held on Sunday, Jan. 9, 2022.
(AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
“This has been a year of change and reflection for the HFPA, for eight months we have worked tirelessly as an organization to be better,” she said. “We changed our rules, bylaws added a new code of conduct and restructured out governance.”
She went on to highlight a collection of 21 new members who she claimed made the new voting pool the most diverse in the organization’s history, which people now know was not a high bar to vault.
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The nominations for the 2022 Golden Globes were announced Monday after a year of negative attention.
(AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Critics say the Globes aren’t yet ready to return to the spotlight. Most of the film industry has this awards season kept the HFPA at arms length, or ignored it entirely. The majority of studios, public relations firms and A-list talent haven’t cooperated with the group, which this year has done away with its usual requirement for nominees to be submitted.
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The question now becomes how the nominees will react to being a part of the 2022 show.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
