Golden Globes substantially increases voting base with 215 new HFPA members
The group behind the Golden Globes has substantially increased its international voting membership after a racial exclusion scandal rocked the organization.
Three months after the 2023 Golden Globes ceremony marked the show's return to network TV for the first time since 2021, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced Monday that 215 new members joined the group's voting ranks, bringing the HFPA's total membership to 310.
According to a press release, the HFPA's new breakdown is now 25 percent Latinx, 14 percent Asian, 10 percent Black, 9 percent Middle Eastern, and 42 percent white, with "at least" 17 percent self-identifying as part of the LGBTQIA+ community.
"We have exceeded our goal of reaching 300 voters for the upcoming 81st Annual Golden Globe Awards thanks to an extensive global recruitment effort," said the group's president, Helen Hoehne, in a statement. "We are excited at the unprecedented achievement in building a truly global voting body where 58 percent self-identify as ethnically diverse."
Michael Tran/FilmMagic Golden Globes
The move comes after a February 2021 Los Angeles Times exposé revealing that, amid a Best Picture snub for Judas and the Black Messiah, there were no Black members in the HFPA's membership, which then stood at 87. That year's show registered record-low ratings and significant celebrity pushback, from Ava DuVernay and Scarlett Johansson to Tom Cruise, who returned his three Globe statuettes in protest. NBC stated that it wouldn't air the Globes in 2022, and a coalition of 102 publicity firms vowed to stop working with the HFPA until it took action for equity.
The HFPA eventually announced behind-the-scenes initiatives, including the establishment of an oversight committee and a partnership with the NAACP.
The 81st Golden Globes take place on Sunday, Jan. 7.
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