Can the Golden Globes come back from crisis?

On January 10 the Oscar race between Cate Blanchett and Michelle Yeoh will begin in earnest, at the 80th Golden Globe Awards. Blanchett is nominated for her role as the eponymous lead in Tár, playing a classical conductor proudly trilling through the peak of her career before crashing like a cymbal, and Yeoh for hers as a dimension-jumping launderette owner in the madcap sci-fi saga Everything Everywhere All At Once.

On the night, both actors are likely to walk away with a gong, as the widely tipped favourites to win best actress in a drama (Blanchett) and musical or comedy (Yeoh). So a night of low(ish) pressure for them, and one of humour and glamour for the millions who will watch the ceremony on TV. But for the organisers of the Golden Globes, the stakes couldn’t be higher.

This year, the biggest battle of the night is the one behind the scenes – that of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s (HFPA) Herculean task to win back the favour of Hollywood after a boycott of its 2022 awards. The concerted snub, led by some of the industry’s biggest stars and studios, including Tom Cruise and Scarlett Johansson, caused NBC (which has long broadcast the Globes) to drop it from its schedule last year. The catalyst was a LA Times investigation, published in February 2021, which alleged that bribes had been accepted in return for votes by the HFPA, whose journalist members cover the entertainment industry across 55 countries – and who get to vote who wins.

That investigation also raised questions about the HFPA’s composition and its ethics, since none of its 87 international members at the time was black. Moreover, it claimed relatively few of its members worked full time for notable foreign publications – yet here they were, every year, being given exclusive access to the top Hollywood talent by studios, invited to junkets in five-star hotels, being showered with gifts, and attending swanky dinners and parties sometimes at the homes of the biggest power players. And a lot of the time, at the HFPA’s insistence. A complicated and complicit relationship between moviemakers and kingmakers.

‘It was described [previously] that the members lived in [Netflix CEO] Ted Sarandos’s living room for six months leading up to it,’ says Richard Rushfield, whose industry newsletter, The Ankler, is widely read by Hollywood insiders. ‘Every studio would make sure that the 90 members or so met all their stars, directors and major contenders, and that there was this huge push and campaign to affect their votes. With the Oscars and its 8,000 members [some put the number of Academy Awards voters at 9,500] it’s a lot harder to have that direct contact that the Globes insisted on.’

Its status partly derives from its crucial early position in the awards ceremony calendar, he points out. The Globes are regarded as a predictor for the Oscars. Before the pandemic, it was held only a week before when the Oscar votes were cast. For instance, Rushfield says, in 2019, ‘Green Book was seen as a second tier in the awards race, then it won the Golden Globe [for best musical/comedy] and, as I recall, that propelled it to its Oscar glory.’

But the LA Times allegations went further than vote-influencing. The reporters also claimed that the HFPA (at the time a non-profit with a decades-long history of philanthropy, donating $50 million in the last 25 years) paid $2 million to its members for committee work and other tasks in its 2020-2021 fiscal year – an amount double that paid out three years earlier.

At the time, an HFPA representative told the LA Times: ‘None of these allegations has ever been proven in court or in any investigation, [and they] simply repeat old tropes about the HFPA and reflect unconscious bias against the HFPA’s diverse membership.’

In early 2021, the Globes ceremony that followed the mounting controversies was a low-key, mid-pandemic affair presented by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler; only seven million TV viewers tuned in.

Soon, notable actors started to speak up. Tom Cruise handed back three awards (for Born on the Fourth of July, Jerry Maguire and Magnolia). Scarlett Johansson, along with 100 major PR firms representing the industry’s biggest guns, called for ‘fundamental reform’ after claiming she had experienced ‘sexist questions and remarks by certain HFPA members that bordered on sexual harassment’. Mark Ruffalo stated he was not ‘proud or happy’ about his gong for best actor in a limited series he had received that year. ‘Now is the time to step up and right the wrongs of the past,’ Ruffalo said. Amazon and Netflix, two of the biggest producers of original content with the healthiest marketing budgets, stated they hadn’t worked with the organisation since the issues had surfaced. The reckoning was real.

Eventually, in July 2021, the HFPA issued a mea culpa and announced reforms starting with hiring 21 new members, six of whom were black, a chief diversity officer and blanket ban of any gifts to members from studios or production companies. No one fell on their sword and for some, it wasn’t enough. Upon the announcements, filmmaker and producer Ava DuVernay tweeted: ‘Same board that oversees and benefits from the current practices and has knowingly perpetuated the HFPA’s corrupt dealings and racial inequity for decades? Got it.’

In January 2022, the 79th Golden Globes was held behind closed doors.

Further corrections followed. Three non-members were added to the board, five to the credentials committee which approves new members. It was announced that exclusive press conferences, one of the long-standing perks of being an HFPA member, would not take place in the 2023 awards cycle, and in September 2022 the HFPA added a further 103 non-member voters, with president Helen Hoehne, a German magazine correspondent and TV pundit, stating the move formed part of the organisation’s plan to‘bring in additional voters to ensure the continued diversification and growth of the voting body’ in time for the 2023 awards.

But Stacy Perman, the LA Times journalist who co-led its investigation, is not convinced the HFPA has done enough for the entire industry to move on in time for next week’s 80th anniversary celebration.

‘For some, yes, they see it as a move in the right direction. But there is also a group of publicists and talent who are sceptical,’ she says. ‘For instance, it was great that they added 21 new members last year but this year they didn’t open it up to new members, they didn’t take applications. They added 103 international non-member voters and that definitely expanded their diversity and geographical composition. But people had questions about, “Who were these journalists?” and why they created two classes of voters.

‘There hasn’t been the same old exclusive access, parties and campaigning to my knowledge,’ she observes. ‘They largely disappeared and the fact that that hasn’t become a big part of the dynamics says that people still reserve some questions.’

At its zenith, the glamorous night-long bash surrounding the Golden Globes was a huge cash cow for NBC. In January 2020, it generated $50 million in advertising and pulled in nearly 20 million viewers: the show was NBC’s number one non-sports broadcast. That year it was hosted by Ricky Gervais, a winner of three Globes himself. A five-time presenter of the awards, Gervais was in his pomp, poking fun at the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio for his predilection for younger girlfriends (while DiCaprio eyeballed him). This almost painful roasting of A-listers, otherwise untouchable, played no small part in the show’s success.

‘Traditionally, it was always considered the most fun [of the awards] to be at,’ recalls Gervais now. ‘Tables heaped with free booze, [when] other awards are theatre seating and totally dry. Of course, what’s better for the audience isn’t always great for the performer. As audiences get drunker you have to work harder to get their attention. I quickly found that the threat of hearing something awful about themselves made them listen.’

In Gervais’s mind it was the show’s irreverent tone that was the key to its success; the permission afforded him by the organisers to run wild with his mockery of the celebrities in the room, delighted millions all over the world. ‘The thrill of even being asked and allowed to write my own stuff and say what I want is quite a golden memory in itself,’ he says. ‘That doesn’t usually happen on such a global stage. Writing the jokes [was] exhilarating because I don’t usually do topical one-liners and I have to try to come up with the best monologue I can for one night only. That of course is also the most traumatic and terrifying thing I do as I only get one shot. And with the world watching, anything I say could be career ending… I most enjoyed treating the whole thing with disdain, and continually referring to the audience as perverts.’

The first Golden Globes awards took place in 1944 at 20th Century Fox studios, with an informal ceremony.

The following year, the organisers stretched to a banquet at the Beverly Hills Hotel – that year Ingrid Bergman was named best actress for The Bells of St Mary’s. In 1952, the Cecil B DeMille Award, a de facto lifetime achievement, was added and promptly taken home by DeMille himself. It has since been won by greats, from Henry Fonda to Jane Fonda, Robert Redford to Robert De Niro, and Jodie Foster, who used her acceptance speech in 2013 to come out.

In 1956 Lucille Ball and her on-screen, off-screen husband Desi Arnaz won an award for American comedy as the scope was widened to include TV categories. By the 1990s stars began to embrace the light-hearted, well-lubricated nature of the evening: in 1996 Brad Pitt thanked the makers of his anti-diarrhoea medication as he accepted an award for 12 Monkeys; in 2001 Elizabeth Taylor fluffed her presenting lines after one too many, that same year Renée Zellweger was stuck in the bathroom as Hugh Grant announced she’d won for Nurse Betty. Last year was not the first time the ceremony has not been a combination of high glamour and hijinks. In 2008 during the writers’ strike, winners were rather soberly announced at a televised press conference.

Over the decades the inner workings of the Golden Globes, and the HFPA have become ever-more complex, and this holds for its immediate future, too.

In July, the HFPA announced Eldridge Industries LLC would create a new private entity to manage the Globes and all its intellectual property, with its philanthropic and charitable programmes housed in a new non-profit. Eldridge was founded by the incumbent HFPA interim CEO Todd Boehly. Eldridge is also the parent company of the Globes’ long-time production company, Dick Clark Productions (meaning Eldridge would receive the $60 million licensing fee from NBC that was previously split between both Dick Clark Productions and the HFPA).

Eldridge also owns The Beverly Hilton, which hosts the Globes, and has a major stake in The Hollywood Reporter, which, along with Variety, gets a chunk of its revenue from studios and production companies’ ‘For Your Consideration’ awards campaigns. Furthermore, it holds a stake in A24, the production company behind Michelle Yeoh’s tour-de-force film, which this year received nominations in six categories.

One could be forgiven for thinking that its setup is deliberately opaque. ‘You connect the dots and there are a raft of potential conflicts of interest,’ says Perman. ‘The way the Globes was set up was that the HFPA produced the awards in partnership with Dick Clark Productions and they split the bank on the money that NBC paid. So now both parts of that pie go to one entity. He owns stakes in most of all the trades [magazines] that do get a significant amount of money for campaigning. Further, his company owns stakes in production companies like A24 whose content is in contention for an award. They seem to think it’s a model for success. I think it remains to be seen. It’s certainly unusual.’

As Boehly and his producers finalise their plans for next week’s show, they might take some words of advice from Gervais. ‘Keep it as fun and short as possible,’ he says, ‘Award shows can take themselves very seriously, which is fine until it’s televised. From the very first time I hosted I had to make a decision. Do I pander to the 200 people in the room or the 200 million people watching at home around the world? It was a no-brainer. People watching on TV aren’t millionaires. They aren’t winning awards and getting free stuff. What’s in it for them? I tried to make it a spectator sport. And it’s quite interesting how it all evolved. The first couple of times I did it, I could feel certain parts of the industry thinking, “Who is this little fat Brit insulting our most beloved celebrities?” But then the world changed. Ten years later at my final hosting I could feel people thinking, “Yeah, go on Rick, screw those rich, virtue-signalling arseholes.” Same act, different times.’

It’s a tough call for incoming first-time host Jerrod Carmichael, the 35-year-old black and gay star of the Emmy-winning comedy special Rothaniel. When he takes to the podium next Tuesday evening, Carmichael may feel that the Saturday Night Live episode he hosted last year was a walk the park by comparison. Not only will he have to please the viewing public with Gervais-level jibes, but also go easy on both the HFPA and those in the room who have forgiven but not forgotten. ‘Now they’re in the position of pleading with the industry to return, and that’s going to make it a little harder for [the host] to be the irreverent, obnoxious joker. In general, comedy has become more difficult overall so they’re in a double bind here,’ says Rushfield of the challenge facing the new presenter.

‘I don’t think anyone can push it very far now,’ bemoans The Telegraph’s US editor-at-large Celia Walden, who covered the Globes for ITV morning television for five years. ‘It always used to be the Oscars’ fun little sister but like every award ceremony now, it’s become fraught with identity issues – what should we stand for? Once you start thinking that way, the fun, frivolous part goes out of the window. The problem with that is it makes it less appealing to audiences because everyone is thinking about what should we be conveying, what’s the message? When in fact it should just be an evening to celebrate achievement and have a laugh.’

In truth, the Golden Globes is no stranger to scandal, with allegations of vote-fixing and bribery dating back as far as 1958. In 2018, the actor Brendan Fraser accused one of the HFPA’s former presidents of sexual assault and he has since distanced himself from the organisation. These most recent problems fall at such a time when the awards sector is in trouble across the board, in part due to the pandemic but also because, as Walden suggests, as the tone becomes more pious, the public tends to switch off.

Last year, the Oscars achieved an audience of 15 million US viewers: a far cry from when it would come second only to the Super Bowl, which now sits at nearly 100 million.  ‘The ratings have been in freefall and the Globes have a privileged position because it is a more fun show and it combines movies and TV,’ explains Rushfield, ‘but ultimately it is part of a sector that is very troubled.’

As it gears up for awards season, Hollywood’s mood is conflicted, he says. ‘I think there are people who want the awards race to happen. Their jobs and livelihoods depend on a vibrant awards sector and they would like to get this behind us. And then there’s still some people, the critics of HFPA, who are not satisfied with what they’ve done and feel that this is an organisation that shouldn’t be a prominence in Hollywood.’

In theory, there should be heavy representation from Brits on the Globes red carpet, as acting nominations this year include nods for Ralph Fiennes, Daniel Craig, Carey Mulligan, Eddie Redmayne, Olivia Colman, Emma Thompson, Lesley Manville, Billy Nighy, Daisy Edgar-Jones and Lily James.

Stacy Perman believes the celebrity head count will be up on last year but it will be a late decision. ‘Hollywood is timid, nobody wants to put their hand up first. They want to see what other people are doing. I think there will be some hold out.’ Indeed, I spoke to one red-carpet stylist who has dressed winners and nominees in recent years who said her client has only just decided to attend, despite being nominated in a major category.

‘When you dangle an award in front of somebody it’s very hard to turn that down,’ says Perman. ‘I think there will be parts of the industry that want to see this move forward because box office has been lousy.’

One actor who you can bet will show up on the night is Jamie Lee Curtis. The Halloween star was one of only two who turned up (in pre-recorded video) last year to the untelevised ceremony (the other being ‘The Terminator’ and former Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger). Upon her nomination for best supporting actress in Everything Everywhere All At Once Curtis took to Instagram to praise everyone involved in the film and her pride at the recognition from the HFPA. Brendan Fraser, nominated for best actor in a drama for Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale, another A24 production, has said he will not.

Will the Golden Globes last another 80 years? Will it even ever again be the supremely glitzy ‘Party of the Year’ as NBC puts it, beating the Oscars on ratings and eliciting memes of anguished celebrity faces as they try to hide their horror at being the butt of the joke?

‘In Hollywood you would always do well to bet on the money and the money is keeping the awards field as vibrant as possible,’ concludes Rushfield. ‘But these are also charged times.’