Could this explain some of the huge courage this year?
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association – the group of people who nominate and select the winners for the annual Golden Globes – was set on fire due to a lack of diversity after a report found zero black members currently in the organization.
The Los Angeles Times has delved deep into the “incredibly strong island group” and the mysterious identities of its 87 members, who often keep “low profiles.” The revealing report found that although the group has some members of color – there are no black members.
HFPA confirmed to the press that there are indeed no black members – but claimed it was an issue they “committed to address”. However, the group did not draw up an action plan.
When nominations were released in early February, there were notable commercials, including highly acclaimed films, such as Spike Lee’s “Yes 5 Bloods” and Shaka King’s “Judas and the Black Messiah” for the big screen awards – though “Judas” star Daniel Kaluuya nodded a “secondary role.” The same goes for the entire cast of the HBO movie “Lovecraft Country” on the small screen: it was nominated for best TV drama – but the entire cast was overlooked for acting approvals.
Similar omissions have previously led to mass outcry from the public, namely in 2015, when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which shares the Oscars, was criticized for its lack of diversity. The #OscarsSoWhite social media campaign forced the organization to move to include more inclusion, which it has since worked to address.
However, HFPA pointed the finger at members of the group because it did not nominate projects appreciated by critics – and adored by fans -.
“We do not control the individual votes of our members,” the HFPA said in a statement to the LA Times. “We try to build a cultural understanding through film and television and recognize how the power of creative storytelling can educate people around the world about issues of race, representation and orientation.”
As for the true identities of the evasive group, the people involved are not publicly listed on the association’s website. A “long-time publicist” told the press that some are international journalists, but “many of them work with points of sale that I have never heard of.”
However, the representative said: “We offer them amazing access. We are forced to do this because of who they are. ”
However, some are known, including Lisa Lu, who played her grandmother in “Crazy Rich Asians” in 2018. Other members include former beauty queen Margaret Gardiner, former Russian bodybuilder Alexander Nevsky, who is now an actor. starring in “low-budget action movies” and Noel de Souza, an Indian journalist who also played Mahatma Gandhi in “Star Trek: The Voyager Episode.”
The lack of diversity of the Golden Globes group is not the only controversy that appears behind the scenes before the show, which will be broadcast on February 28.
Another explosive report claimed that HFPA was treated to a five-star trip to France to visit the “Emily in Paris” set, which garnered a nomination that many critics and fans found shocking. Even a writer for the Netflix show wrote a play that states that other great works, including “I Can Destroy You,” were worth the nomination instead.