The Golden Globes will continue on, but their infamous voting membership has been axed.
The media conglomerate Penske just bought the Globes. In consequence, they’re shutting down the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. A few HFPA members will continue on to a new voting body, most will not.
Penske owns The Hollywood Reporter and Variety, so it isn’t much of a surprise that THR made the exclusive announcement this morning. This is a big deal for Hollywood. Does this technically mean that the film trades now own the Globes?
Penske and Boehly’s Eldridge Properties have acquired all of the Globes’ assets, rights and properties from the HFPA. The group’s current president, Helen Hoehne, will continue on.
This seems to have been the only option moving forward as the Globes still have no broadcast partner for their 2024 telecast. The last Globes ceremony had awful ratings on NBC in January. Many in the industry even boycotted attending the ceremony.
These last few years, the Globes have been steeped in controversy over their lack of Black members. The HFPA voting body swore they made internal reforms to appease to the demands. The desperation to repent by the HFPA felt embarrassing and pathetic.
This absolutely terrified voting body succumbed to the demands, scared to be canceled into oblivion by a torch-carrying media apparatus. However, it was too little too late, and they’ve now been shut down.
The HFPA had made changes, adding 103 non-member voters this past year, from around the world, including six from Nigeria. However, none of them were invited to the show – they couldn’t afford to come and the Globes didn’t offer help despite the organization having net assets of close to $79 million.
Edward Berger seems to have settled on what comes next. His Lance Armstrong biopic, starring Austin Butler, is now holding casting calls, with production eyed for January.