Here’s Why NBC Won’t Be Airing the 2022 Golden Globes Ceremony

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Yesterday, May 10th, NBC announced that it will not be airing the 2022 Golden Globe Awards. This is a huge decision caused by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association's inability to modernize and diversify at a timely pace. "Change of this magnitude takes time and work, and we feel strongly that the HFPA needs time to do it right," NBC said in a statement, per Deadline. "As such, NBC will not air the 2022 Golden Globes." The network says it hopes that by 2023 it'll feel right about picking the show back up again.

So...what happened?

As both viewers and Hollywood elites would tell you, this has kind of been a long time coming. In normal years, NBC shells out $60 million to produce and air the Globes. However, as recent years have proved, this investment is seemingly all for naught. In fact, the 2021 Golden Globes was the lowest-rated Globes ever, Vanity Fair reports. Before they aired in February, Ava DuVernay, J.J. Abrams, Sterling K. Brown, and other A-listers had begun calling attention to the lack of diversity on the HFPA voting board. Out of 87 members, not a single one is Black. What's more is that a February Los Angeles Times exposé uncovered several "ethical lapses" within the organization, leading the HFPA to make a statement in early March committing themselves to "transformational change."

But the tentative list of "to-dos" was not enough to pull Hollywood and the public back over to their side.

According to a May 6th Deadline report, the HFPA agreed 75 to 9 to vote on a plan that would set in motion the hiring of a search firm to bring in a CEO, a Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer, as well as find a company to set up a conduct violations hotline. Furthermore, the plan will also kick off a search for new, diverse HFPA members with the goal being to up membership by 50% within two years.

But for many, the plan was still too little too late. Five-time Golden Globe nominee Scarlett Johansson spoke out against the HFPA on May 9th saying that she had experiences with people in the organization "that bordered on sexual harassment." Mark Ruffalo later joined Johansson in saying that he "cannot feel proud or happy about being a recipient of [a Golden Globe]," adding that, "now is the time to step up and right the wrongs of the past."

Soon after, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos, Amazon Studios chief Jennifer Salke, Ellen Pompeo, Kerry Washington, Jurnee Smollett, Jennifer Aniston, Damon Lindelof, Shonda Rhimes, the DGA, SAG-AFTRA, Time's Up, and GLAAD all disavowed the Golden Globes, demanding more inclusive and sweeping change before the show goes on. Even three-time Golden Globe winner Tom Cruise reportedly mailed his three trophies back to the HFPA headquarters earlier this week.

"Regardless of the next air date of the Golden Globes, implementing transformational changes as quickly—and as thoughtfully—as possible remains the top priority for our organization," The HFPA stated in a May 10th article on its website, which outlines its timeline to reform. "We invite our partners in the industry to the table to work with us on the systemic reform that is long overdue, both in our organization as well as within the industry at large."

The pressure is on for the Golden Globes and HFPA to right their wrongdoings by completely reforming before it's too late to make a comeback.