The Golden Globes continue to be a sh*tshow. Why anyone still treats this awards show as credible is beyond me. Frankly, the less coverage it gets, the faster it can fade into irrelevance.
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), which used to run the Globes—corruption and all—was bought out in 2023 by Penske Media, the company behind Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, and several other outlets.
For decades, the HFPA had a reputation for operating like an insiders’ club, handing out perks while attracting repeated ethical controversies. It was also widely criticized for having no Black members. Penske ultimately dissolved the old organization and replaced it with a much larger, more traditional voting body made up of entertainment journalists from around the world.
That left the former HFPA members out in the cold: no more lavish perks, no more international festival junkets, and no more publicists fawning over them while they posed with movie stars. Unsurprisingly, they weren’t happy.
Now they’re suing Penske, claiming they were defrauded in the process. We’ll see how that works out.
Penske’s response—issued under the Golden Globes banner—was a bit rich. Rather than focus on the legal claims, it went straight for the jugular, calling the HFPA non-inclusive and racist —which doesn’t actually address the substance of the lawsuit.
We remain troubled that the HFPA, an organization so widely criticized for ethical failures, non-inclusivity, racism, and misconduct involving talent, continues to find attorneys willing to push such illegitimate claims.
I don’t know who to root for here. Penske, which effectively monopolized entertainment journalism by buying up nearly all the major trades and has since turned the Golden Globes into what feels like a pimped-out, for-profit enterprise? Or the HFPA, an organization notorious for members allegedly accepting bribes and lavish gifts in exchange for votes?
It’s a tough call.