Only minutes after the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) announced its plans to affect more “diversity” in its Golden Globes awards process, activist group Time’s Up went on the attack calling the plans “not enough.”
The HFPA announced its new plans Saturday evening, claiming it would implement “transformational change” and the efforts would diversify its ranks to be more inclusive at the Golden Globes Awards.
Despite the HFPA’s announcement, members of the activist group Time’s Up said they were skeptical of the HFPA’s airy rhetoric. The group released a blistering statement slamming the HFPA for “ignoring” all these same issues “for decades” and said that “the right words are not enough” in dealing with inequality:
So NBCUniversal, Dick Clark Productions, and the HFPA just declared that they have a plan to fix problems they’ve ignored for decades. We’re not so sure. On behalf of the many artists who look to us to hold the HFPA’s feet to the fire on the racism, disrespect, misogyny, and alleged corrupt financial dealings of the Golden Globes, we need to see specific details, timetables for change, and firm commitments. The right words are not enough. The clock is ticking.
Time’s Up has suggested that Comcast-owned NBC should intervene and use its position as the HFPA’s broadcast partner to force the award show to make immediate changes.
Controversy erupted after a recent L.A. Times expose noted the HFPA had no black members. In the wake of the report, the group promised to hire more black professionals and engage an independent firm to help it locate qualified black candidates.
“Hiring an independent expert in organizational diversity, equity, and inclusion to advise and guide us. Among other important tasks, this expert will audit our bylaws and membership requirements to help us guard against any exclusionary practices and achieve a more diverse membership,” the HFPA said in a statement.
Time’s Up found the announcement lacking. “Your stated version of change is cosmetic — find black people. That is not a solution,” the group said.
The L.A. Times also noted that as recent as last summer, the HFPA had refused to hire a diversity consultant. After a member brought up the idea, it was rejected in a subsequent vote.
Still, the HFPA insisted that it is about “elevating future film and television professionals from all walks of life unified by their shared passion and love for film and television,” but conceded that they “must and will do more.”
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