Golden Globes sale was a 'sham,' Hollywood Foreign Press alleges in $150-million suit against Penske, others

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Set us as preferred The Hollywood Foreign Press Assn., the group that originally founded the Golden Globe Awards, filed an antitrust lawsuit against media mogul Jay Penske, Penske Media Corp., the Golden Globe Foundation and others, over the acquisition of the popular award show.The suit filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California on Monday claims the 2023 purchase of the Golden Globes was a “sham process tainted by fraud” and is seeking damages of at least $150 million.Penske and the other named defendants “orchestrated and participated in a clandestine scheme to fraudulently acquire the Golden Globe Awards, dismantle the HFPA [Hollywood Foreign Press Assn.], and exert monopolistic control over Hollywood trades and the awards circuit thereby violating California’s antitrust and consumer protection statutes,” according to the complaint.A spokesperson for Penske Media and the Golden Globes denied the allegations in a statement.“Today’s lawsuit continues the absurdity and irrationality that the industry has come to expect from the defunct organization formerly known as the HFPA.” Business Job postings reveal studios are quietly adopting AI.The suit accuses Jay Penske, whose company owns many of the Hollywood trade publications including Variety, of having “colluded” with Todd Boehly, the billionaire chairman of private equity firm Eldridge Industries, the parent company of longtime Golden Globes producer Dick Clark Productions, to purchase the 80-year-old award show through a “corrupt Asset Purchase Agreement (the ‘APA’).”Penske and Boehly have significant ownership stakes in several film and television production companies such as A24 Films and MRC.Boehly declined to comment for this story.The suit argues that owning the Golden Globes would “solidify a vertical...