NBC revives Golden Globes telecast after HFPA racial exclusion scandal
The Golden Globes will spin into the awards season fray on NBC once again.
NBC announced Tuesday that the network (and the Peacock streaming service) will bring back the televised ceremony on Jan. 10, more than a year after stepping back from the broadcast in the wake of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association's racial exclusion scandal. Nominations for the 80th Golden Globes will be announced on Dec. 12.
"We recognize the HFPA's commitment to ongoing change and look forward to welcoming back the Golden Globes to NBC for its landmark 80th anniversary in January 2023," said NBCUniversal entertainment chair Frances Berwick in a press statement, which also pointed to the HFPA's recent addition of 103 new voters to its ranks, virtually doubling the size of the awards body.
In February 2021, seven days before NBC's 78th Golden Globes broadcast, the Los Angeles Times published an exposé revealing that, amid a Best Picture snub for Judas and the Black Messiah, there were no Black members among the HFPA's 87-member votership. A week later, the show registered record-low ratings and celebrity pushback, from Ava DuVernay and Scarlett Johansson to Tom Cruise, who returned his three Globe statuettes in protest. NBC ultimately declared it wouldn't air the Globes in 2022, while a band of 102 Hollywood publicity firms joined together, vowing to stop working with the HFPA until it took action for equity.
Michael Tran/FilmMagic Golden Globes
"We continue to believe that the HFPA is committed to meaningful reform," NBC said in a statement announcing its temporary hold on broadcasting the Globes. "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."
The HFPA later announced behind-the-scenes initiatives — including the creation of an oversight committee, a partnership with the NAACP, and welcoming 21 new voters from diverse backgrounds — in response. Still, the group forged on with a scaled-down awards presentation on Jan. 9.
"Any nomination from that organization this year is tainted," a prominent publicity head anonymously told EW at the time. Another campaign mastermind added: "You focus on laurels that give pedigree and bring attention in a positive way. Given the conversation right now, [the Globes don't] feel positive. [They don't] feel like forward momentum."
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