The Golden Globes are mounting a comeback. But Hollywood is still ‘on the fence’
Before dawn Monday, the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. announced its nominations for the first televised Golden Globe Awards in two years, since a 2021 Times investigation exposed a lack of diversity in the organization’s membership and raised concerns about its ethics and financial practices.
Hollywood’s response? A collective out-of-office message.
In years past, studios and publicists greeted the nominations with a flurry of press releases, lining up interviews with nominees to share their breathlessly excited reactions. But in the wake of two years of scandal and tumult surrounding the Globes, the response was decidedly muted, as the industry reconsiders its relationship with what had long been one of Hollywood’s most coveted, if often mocked, awards.
Of nearly 60 nominees in the film and TV acting categories The Times reached out to on Monday, including Adam Driver (“White Noise”), Cate Blanchett (“Tár”) and Viola Davis (“Woman King”), only one was available for comment, with a handful of others sharing prepared statements of gratitude.
“Thank you so much to the Golden Globes — this is a great honor,” Hugh Jackman, a nominee for the drama “The Son,” said in a 14-second video posted to Twitter, holding his hand to his chest.
“How wonderful that a tiny, independent movie shot during the pandemic is being recognized in this way,” Emma Thompson, who was nominated for her turn in the film “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande,” said in a statement. “We are all so grateful.”
Most did not respond at all.
A Times investigation finds that the nonprofit HFPA regularly issues substantial payments to its members in ways that some experts say could skirt IRS guidelines.
After being pulled from the airwaves by NBC last year, the Globes — which have long marked the kickoff to Oscar season — are set to return to the network on Jan. 10 for their 80th installment.
With Hollywood’s lingering misgivings about the HFPA despite its efforts at reform, it is unclear how many stars will choose to attend the show, which has been bumped from its traditional Sunday night time slot to Tuesday to make room for NBC’s “Sunday Night Football.” (The network made a similar move with September’s Emmy Awards, which aired on a Monday.)
“It’s definitely a wait-and-see scenario right now with my clients,” said one personal publicist who represents several nominees but asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the subject. “The HFPA has put people in a lot of uncomfortable situations over the years, and from what I’m hearing, most aren’t in any hurry to forgive and forget.”
The nominations contained the HFPA’s usual mix of expected choices — including best picture nods for blockbuster fare like “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Avatar: The Way of Water” as well as indie standouts such as “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and “Tár” — and a handful of snubs and head-scratchers, including the omission of “Till” star Danielle Deadwyler, who is considered a strong contender for a lead actress Oscar.
Every year people complain about the awards show surplus. We finally got rid of the most absurd and corrupt of them — and now the Globes are back? Why?
The darkly comic “Banshees of Inisherin” led the film pack with eight nominations, including best picture (musical or comedy) along with nods for writer and director Martin McDonagh and stars Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon and Barry Keoghan. On the TV side, the ABC sitcom “Abbott Elementary” topped the field with five total nods, including for comedy series.
Faced with a crippling boycott led by a coalition of more than 100 leading publicity firms that choked off the HFPA’s lifeblood of star power, the organization has sought to remake itself inside and out to get back into Hollywood’s good graces.
The 96-member organization added six Black journalists last year — it previously had none — and brought in 103 nonmember international voters in a further bid to expand and diversify its long closed-off ranks. (The group, which includes members from 62 countries, now says it is 52% female and 51.5% racially and ethnically diverse.) The HFPA has also banned gifts, instituted a hotline for reporting misconduct and quietly ejected a handful of members whom they have accused of violating its standards.
Under interim Chief Executive Todd Boehly, the group has moved to transform itself from a nonprofit organization into a for-profit company with a separate philanthropic arm, though the organization is still awaiting governmental approval for the new structure.
In recent weeks, the HFPA has held a number of meetings with studios and publicists, hoping to thaw relations. Many in the industry would like to see the Globes make a comeback, viewing the awards as a critical marketing tool on the road to the Oscars — more so than ever this year, as a number of critically acclaimed awards hopefuls, such as “Tár” and “The Fabelmans,” have struggled to connect with wider audiences.
“There was a lot wrong... and it needed to be addressed,” said one source familiar with the meetings between publicists and the HFPA.“This was an opportunity... to be able to understand what those things are and what changes, reforms and commitments are being made. Some people will be on the fence until they see this process.”
The source, who requested anonymity in order to discuss ongoing conversations, added that public acknowledgment of Monday’s nominations, though muted compared to years past, was generally more positive than last year’s nearly silent reaction.
A tearful Niecy Nash, nominated for her supporting role in “Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,” pointed to her nod’s significance as both a personal and representational milestone. “When I saw the [headline] that said, ‘Niecy Nash could be the first Black woman to win in this category,’ my heart skipped a beat,” Nash told The Times. “In almost 2023, to still be the first Black person to do anything almost seems crazy.”
Primarily known for her comedic work, Nash added that her nomination for “Dahmer” affirmed her belief that she could make people cry as well as laugh: “I just needed allies in the business to see me like I saw myself.”
The Globes return to TV this year after a hiatus sparked by a Times investigation into the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. Here are the nominees.
On Monday, the official Twitter accounts of such films as “Avatar: The Way of Water,” “The Fabelmans,” “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” and others also touted their nods on social media, a longtime feature of digital and print publicity for fall and winter releases.
Still, many in Hollywood remain reluctant to be associated with the Globes brand. In addition to Jackman, “Yellowstone’s” Kevin Costner, “Blonde’s” Ana de Armas and pop star Rihanna, nominated for original song for “Lift Me Up” from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” were among the few nominees who posted about their nods on social media.
One nominee who is certain not to attend next year’s Globes is Brendan Fraser, who earned a lead actor nod for his turn as a morbidly obese teacher in “The Whale.” In 2018, Fraser alleged that former HFPA President Phil Berk groped him at a luncheon in 2003. Berk, who was ousted from the group last year after calling Black Lives Matter a “racist hate movement,” has denied the allegation.
Fraser, who offered no reaction to his Globes nod on Monday, recently told GQ that he would not take part in the ceremony. “I have more history with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association than I have respect for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association,” he told the magazine. “My mother didn’t raise a hypocrite. You can call me a lot of things, but not that.”
In an effort to revive what has long been seen as Hollywood’s loosest, booziest and most unpredictable awards show, the HFPA and NBC announced last week that comedian Jerrod Carmichael would host the Globes banquet in January. Notably, Carmichael, who is Black, is represented by the publicity firm ID PR, whose chief executive, Kelly Bush Novak, helped lead the publicists’ boycott. (Carmichael also has history with NBC, having starred for three years on the sitcom “The Carmichael Show.”)
As other major awards shows like the Oscars and Emmys have inexorably shed viewers in recent years, the Globes continued to hold steady, pulling in roughly 18 million viewers annually before the pandemic. Dampened by COVID-19 and controversy, however, the 2021 telecast attracted only about 7 million viewers, and the ratings prospects for next year’s show are uncertain.
Hedging its bets, NBC — which was previously contracted to broadcast the Globes through 2026 — has said it is bringing the show back for only a one-year trial. (The ceremony will also be available via streaming on NBCUniversal’s Peacock platform.) Should it struggle to deliver a sufficiently robust audience, the Globes’ future on NBC, or any other broadcast network, could be in jeopardy once again.
After shunning the HFPA for nearly two years, many in Hollywood are ready to give the group, which has managed to survive numerous scandals over the last eight decades, one more chance.
“They’ve shown and demonstrated that they are serious about reforms,” said Novak. “They’ve made seismic changes... and as painful as it has been getting here, they’ve acknowledged that it is just the beginning.”
Times staff writer Stacy Perman and columnist Glenn Whipp contributed to this report.
Only good movies
Get the Indie Focus newsletter, Mark Olsen's weekly guide to the world of cinema.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
