Golden Globes group faces mounting pressure from Netflix, Amazon and publicists to reform

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2021-05-07/times-up-blasts-golden-globes-group-reforms-as-window-dressing-as-publicist-continue-boycott

One day after the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. voted to move ahead with a sweeping set of reforms, Time’s Up blasted the proposed changes as “window-dressing platitudes,” while a coalition of more than 100 publicity agencies said they will continue to withhold access to stars from the Golden Globes group.

The strong rebuke set off a remarkable cascade of criticism toward the embattled HFPA, plunging the group into further turmoil as it attempts to weather a crisis that has imperiled its awards show and its very existence. By Friday evening, two of awards season’s biggest power players — Netflix and Amazon Studios — distanced themselves from the organization, revealing that they would cut ties with the HFPA until it goes further in its plan to remake itself.

“Sadly, the list of ‘reforms’ adopted yesterday, and endorsed by NBCUniversal and Dick Clark Productions, are sorely lacking and hardly transformational,” Time’s Up President and Chief Executive Tina Tchen said in a statement. “Instead, these measures ensure that the current membership of the HFPA will remain in the majority and that the next Golden Globes will be decided with the same fundamental problems that have existed for years.”

In approving the reforms, the HFPA had hoped to move on from months of controversy that have dogged the group since the publication of a Feb. 21 Times investigation that detailed allegations of ethical lapses and financial improprieties and revealed that the 86-member organization of international journalists has no Black members.

A coalition of publicists representing many of the industry’s biggest stars issued an open letter in mid-March vowing to withhold access to their clients unless significant reforms were undertaken.

On Friday, that same group said that its boycott of the HFPA would continue, cutting off the lifeblood of access that the organization depends on and raising serious questions about whether next year’s Golden Globe Awards will be able to go on next year as planned.

“We have specific concerns about the timeline for change as the traditional 2022 awards calendar approaches, lest we face another Golden Globes awards cycle and show under the existing problematic HFPA structure,” the publicists said in a statement. “We will continue to refrain from any HFPA sanctioned events, including press conferences, unless and until these issues are illuminated in detail with a firm commitment to a timeline that respects the looming 2022 season reality. We stand ready to collaborate with the HFPA to ensure that the next Golden Globes — be it in 2022 or 2023 — represents the values of our creative community.”

Adding to the pressures on the HFPA, Netflix co-Chief Executive Ted Sarandos issued a letter to the group’s leadership committee Thursday after its vote, saying the company will stop working with the organization until more is done. News of the letter, confirmed by The Times, was first reported by Deadline.

“Today’s vote is an important first step,” Sarandos wrote. “However, we don’t believe these proposed new policies — particularly around the size and speed of membership growth — will tackle the HFPA’s systemic diversity and inclusion challenges, or the lack of clear standards for how your members should operate. So we’re stopping any activities with your organization until more meaningful changes are made.

“We know that you have many well-intentioned members who want real change — and that all of us have more work to do to create an equitable and inclusive industry,” Sarandos added. “But Netflix and many of the talent and creators we work with cannot ignore the HFPA’s collective failure to address these crucial issues with urgency and rigor.”

An awards season powerhouse in both film and television, Netflix led all studios in both nominations and wins at this year’s Golden Globes. Since the controversy first erupted in late February, the streaming giant has been communicating its concerns to the HFPA and urging it to bring on hundreds more diverse new members and to clarify its ethical standards around awards campaigning, said a source close to the company.

Responding to Sarandos, HFPA President Ali Sar reiterated the association’s commitment to transformational reforms.

“We hear your concerns about the changes our association needs to make and want to assure you that we are working diligently on all of them,” Sar said in a letter to Sarandos. “We can assure you that our plan reflects input from our supporters and critics alike, and we truly believe that our plan will drive meaningful reform and inclusion within our Association and in a way that the entire industry can be proud of.”