NBC announced on Monday that it will not air the Golden Globes in 2022 in response to criticisms over the lack of diversity in the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), the award show’s voting body.
“We continue to believe that the HFPA is committed to meaningful reform,” NBC representatives said in a statement. “However, change of this magnitude takes time and work, and we feel strongly that the HFPA needs time to do it right. As such, NBC will not air the 2022 Golden Globes. Assuming the organization executes on its plan, we are hopeful we will be in a position to air the show in January 2023.”
Additionally, Tom Cruise has joined the protests against the HFPA by announcing that he’ll return his three Golden Globes trophies that he’s won over the course of his career.
While the diversity of the HFPA, as well as other voting bodies like the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, has been called into question in recent years, the controversy surrounding the Globes flared up in February following a Los Angeles Times report that the organization had no black journalists among its 87 members.
The move by NBC and Cruise follows the HFPA’s slew of promised reforms last week that were criticized as “window dressing platitudes” by Time’s Up and other Hollywood advocacy groups. The proposed reforms included “at least 20 new members in 2021, with a specific focus on recruiting Black members,” and “a goal of increasing the membership by 50% over the next 18 months,” among others. NBCUniversal and Dick Clark Productions, which produces the Globes, initially endorsed the reforms, but after Times Up stated that the changes do not go far enough, they each withdrew their endorsement.
Netflix, Amazon Studios, and WarnerMedia — three of the dominating studios at the Globes this year — have all announced their withdrawal from their relationship with the HFPA until major changes are made to the voting body’s diversity and inclusion practices. Additionally, a group of 100 publicity firms in Hollywood stated they would “continue to refrain from any HFPA sanctioned events” until the reform.
