Organisers of Golden Globes promise appointment of black judge to tackle diversity issues
The organisers of the Golden Globe Awards have promised to appoint a black judge to vote on nominees "as soon as possible", after the critically-acclaimed British series I May Destroy You was overlooked in favour of the heavily ridiculed Emily in Paris.
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HPFA), a panel of 87 entertainment journalists with no black members, were accused of being part of "systemic racism" in the TV industry for its snub of the BBC production directed by British actress Michaela Coel.
It later emerged that more than 30 HFPA members were flown to France to visit the set of Emily in Paris in 2019 where they were treated to a two-night stay at the five-star Peninsula Paris Hotel, where rooms start at $1,400 a night and lunch at the Musée des Arts Forains, a “private museum with amusement rides dating to 1950”.
The trip was paid for by the show’s developers, Paramount Network. The HFPA told the Telegraph that "the notion that these visits have any influence over nominees for the Golden Globes is absurd".
After learning of the nomination, Deborah Capoken, a writer on Emily in Paris, published an opinion piece in which she claimed: "That I May Destroy You did not get one Golden Globe nod is not only wrong, it's what is wrong with everything", later claiming "systemic racism in America" was partially to blame.
The association faced further criticism for failing to include several black-led Oscar contenders like Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Da 5 Bloods and Judas and the Black Messiah.
A spokesman for the HPFA, which will host the Golden Globes ceremony on Sunday for the 78th time, told The Telegraph it was "fully committed to ensuring our membership is reflective of the communities around the world who love film, TV, and the artists inspiring and educating them".
He added that "we understand we need to bring in black members, as well as members from other underrepresented backgrounds".
NBC, which broadcasts the Golden Globes, was also under pressure to take a stand against the largely white judging panel. It declined to comment on the lack of black members and the accusation that those members could be bought.
Kjersti Flaa, an entertainment journalist living in Los Angeles who recently filed a lawsuit against the HFPA accusing the organisation of institutionalising a “culture of corruption”, told the Telegraph that rumours around judges being sent lavish gifts in return for positive media and possible nominations “were nothing new”.
Flaa claimed she heard judges discussing how they often do not watch the films which are up for nomination, and regularly ask their peers whether they should vote for them or not - even though discussing a vote is against the rules. Her claim was backed by another source close to the members who wished to remain anonymous over fear of retaliation.
She said: "Some of them are so old I imagine the Emily in Paris thing was because you get sent so many links it is easier just to watch something on Netflix...they don’t watch the links and and then call each other to ask ‘what shall I vote for’".
During his stint as a returning Golden Globes host comedian Ricky Gervais has regularly made the joke that the awards could be bought, referencing rumours that Pia Zadora’s 1982 best new star award for Butterfly, which had yet to be released, had been bought by the film’s sole investor and Padora’s husband Meshulam Riklis. Padora denied this was the case.
Rosa Gamazo, a journalist who is also filing a lawsuit against HFPA for lost wages over its control over Hollywood coverage, said that Gervais’ jokes had been “the truth” and that nobody “had the balls” to say it because the HFPA has so much “power”.
The HFPA spokesman said that the organisation “has made huge strides over the last decade to address these concerns” including working with Ernst & Young and introduced a gift policy.
He said: “Whatever may have happened in the distant past, the current administration is extremely proud of what we’ve accomplished over the last several years.”
In January 2016 all 20 Oscar nominations in the acting categories went to white performers for the second year in a row, prompting the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite which was rebranded to #GrammySoWhite in 2017 when Adele won all five of her nominations, beating Beyonce.
