Golden Globe Awards sold after years of controversy

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the event's voting body, will also be dissolved

The Golden Globe Awards will take place under new leadership next year. AFP

The Golden Globe Awards has been sold to a new owner which will shut down the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) – the voting body made up of entertainment journalists.

Dick Clark Productions and Eldridge has bought the rights, assets and properties of the awards ceremony, which will result in the elimination of the HFPA, with the newly formed Golden Globe Foundation taking its place.

As part of this transaction, Dick Clark Productions and its partners will plan, host and produce the annual Golden Globe Awards show with hopes to expand its dwindling commercial reach and audience globally. The 81st ceremony will take place on January 7 at the very start of the entertainment industry’s awards season.

“Today marks a significant milestone in the evolution of the Golden Globes,” Todd Boehly, chairman of Eldridge said.

He acknowledged and thanked Helen Hoehne, the current president of the HFPA, for her and her team's commitment to “the diverse and international voting body, implementing a professional, safe and accountable environment, and trusting new ownership with a new direction for the Globes.”

The news comes after several public controversies over the years involving the HFPA’s lack of ethical judgment and lack of diversity. The HFPA is a collection of international journalists founded in 1943 to vote and award outstanding achievements in television and film.

A 2021 Los Angeles Times investigation found that the organisation had no black journalists in its 87-person membership and that none had been admitted as members since former president Meher Tatna joined in 2002. Some members were also accused of making sexist and racist remarks, as well as fawning over and expecting favours from film studios and celebrities.

These allegations came three years after actor Brendan Fraser accused the former HFPA president Philip Berk of assaulting him in 2003. Fraser, who was nominated for the Best Actor award at the Golden Globes this year, didn’t attend the ceremony.

After the Los Angeles Times investigation, other celebrities such as Scarlett Johansson, Tom Cruise and Mark Ruffalo, and studios such as Netflix, Amazon Studios, WarnerMedia, made public statements that they would not be working with the HFPA until changes were made to its code of conduct.

In May 2022 the US television network NBC cut ties with the Golden Globes and the awards ceremony wasn’t televised.

As a result, the HFPA implemented new measures and changed its inclusion standards, welcoming more diverse members into its ranks.

"We adopted a new set of policies, eliminated a lot of the conflicts that we had," the sitting HFPA president told NPR in January.

"We implemented a new grievance procedure with a confidential reporting hotline."

NPR also reported that the organisation had grown to become more diverse with 103 new members representing 62 countries.

Neil Phillips, the HFPA's chief diversity officer, also said in the same report that the HFPA was working to “correct past wrongs, past transgressions” and that it would continue to work “to be a better organisation".

While it’s still not clear how the new acquisition will establish a voting body without the HFPA, the Golden Globes Foundation aims to “continue the legacy” of the HPFA’s history of entertainment-related charitable giving.