Column: The Golden Globes' ethics are worse than ever, and no one seems to care
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Less than five years ago, the Golden Globes were hanging by a thread.In the wake of a Times investigation that exposed the group’s self-dealing and ethical lapses and a complete lack of Black representation among its membership, NBC pulled the ceremony off the air as Netflix and Amazon Studios and more than 100 publicity agencies cut ties with the embattled Hollywood Foreign Press Assn.
It got so bad that Tom Cruise sent back his three Golden Globes to the HFPA in protest, an act not quite on the level of Sean Penn’s 2022 threat to smelt his Oscars, though it grabbed headlines all the same.But the Golden Globes have returned from the brink.
The awards show, now run by Penske Media Eldridge, owned by Jay Penske and Todd Boehly, announced its latest slate of film and television nominations Monday.And the coverage, led by trade publications owned by Penske, has contained little to no mention of the show’s troubled past — or the controversies that continue to swirl around the ceremony, which will again air in January on CBS as part of a five-year broadcast deal signed in 2024.
Movies The Golden Globe Award nominations were announced Monday on CBS.Here’s the full list of nominees.So, yes, for all intents and purposes, the Golden Globes are back.
But regarding ethical practices, today’s for-profit Globes may well be worse than ever, crossing the line in ways that are more egregious than the shady maneuverings that put the awards on life support not so long ago.As part of the show’s rehabilitation, the Globes have expanded their voting pool to 300 people, including Black voters.
Fifty of the original HFPA members were grandfathered into the group and offered an annual salary of $75,000.The Globes terminated that policy earlier this year, calling the move “an acknowledgment that continuing to pay members could add to a perception of bias in voting.”It’s hard n...