In the latest act of liberal Hollywood cannibalism, NBC has pulled the plug on the 2022 Golden Globes telecast as studios including Netflix, Amazon, and WarnerMedia have cut ties with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) over accusations of corruption and a lack of diversity.
Many of these same studios have spent years showering HFPA members with gifts — including free overseas trips — as a way to help secure votes for their movies and TV shows. Now, they are casting stones at the beleaguered HFPA, whose promises to reform have failed to impress industry leaders.
Even Tom Cruise is getting in on the virtue signaling, returning the three Golden Globes he won for Jerry Maguire, Magnolia, and Born on the Fourth of July.
On Monday, Comcast-owned NBC announced it is cancelling the 2022 Golden Globes. “We continue to believe that the HFPA is committed to meaningful reform,” the network said in a statement sent to multiple news outlets.
“However, change of this magnitude takes time and work, and we feel strongly that the HFPA needs time to do it right. As such, NBC will not air the 2022 Golden Globes. Assuming the organization executes on its plan, we are hopeful we will be in a position to air the show in January 2023.”
The decision comes after this year’s Globes broadcast experienced a catastrophic drop in ratings, with viewership down more than 60 percent from the previous year.
In response to the cancellation, the HFPA board issued a new timeline for reforms on Monday.
“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,” the board said in a statement.
The Globes controversy comes after the Los Angeles Times reported that the organization has no black people among its voting membership. The newspaper resurfaced allegations of corruption within the organization, including the group’s long-standing practice of allowing members to accept gifts from studios.
Following this year’s broadcast, the HFPA promised to institute reforms such as diversifying its membership and hiring a chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer. But the announcement was seen as too little, too late. Netflix was one of the first studios to cut ties with the HFPA, saying the changes were unlikely to address the group’s “systemic diversity and inclusion challenges.”
Like many studios, Netflix has lavished gifts on HFPA members in years past. The streamer reportedly flew HFPA members to France to watch the shooting of the comedy series Emily in Paris, putting them up at a luxury hotel.
WarnerMedia followed suit, saying it would no longer work with the organization. The company cited the quid-pro-quo nature of the HFPA’s relationship with studios.
“For far too long, demands for perks, special favors and unprofessional requests have been made to our teams and to others across the industry,” the media giant said. “We regret that as an industry, we have complained, but largely tolerated this behavior until now.”
The HFPA has long been the butt of jokes in the entertainment industry. The organization nominally consists of journalists who cover Hollywood for foreign media outlets. But most members aren’t affiliated with reputable publications while some aren’t journalists at all.
For years, the Golden Globes has been a ratings magnet for NBC and a cash cow for dick clark productions, which produces the annual broadcast. NBC is reportedly paying $60 million per year for broadcast rights to the Globes as part of an eight-year deal running through 2026.
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