NBC drops next year's Golden Globes over diversity row

The Golden Globes is second in importance only to the Oscars in Hollywood's film award season, but its future status has been called into question by threats of a boycott over some of the HFPA's controversies

The Golden Globes is second in importance only to the Oscars in Hollywood's film award season, but its future status has been called into question by threats of a boycott over some of the HFPA's controversies

The future of the Golden Globes was plunged into jeopardy Monday as NBC canceled its broadcast of next year's prestigious awards, while major Hollywood studios and stars such as Tom Cruise and Scarlett Johansson slammed the organizers' record on diversity and transparency.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, comprised of some 90 journalists who vote for Tinseltown's second-biggest annual film and television awards, has been under fire for months following widespread allegations of racism, sexism, bullying and corruption among its ranks.

But the backlash from Hollywood has been fierce, with A-listers such as Johansson and Mark Ruffalo and powerful executives lining up to condemn the changes as too slow, lacking in specifics and failing to address some of the industry's most fundamental grievances.

"We continue to believe that the HFPA is committed to meaningful reform. However, change of this magnitude takes time and work, and we feel strongly that the HFPA needs time to do it right," the awards' longstanding broadcaster NBC said in a statement.

The development -- a potentially fatal blow to the awards and the organization itself, which relies heavily on the Globes' television rights for its funding -- comes days after Netflix and Amazon Studios said they would not work with the HFPA until more "meaningful" and "significant" changes were made.

Warner will not provide stars to speak at HFPA-only press conferences or extend invitations for the group's members to attend exclusive industry events until urgent and meaningful change is guaranteed.

"We are keenly aware of how much harder we've had to lobby to secure press conferences for a number of Black performers and creators, representing unquestionably worthy content," said the letter shared with Hollywood trade outlet Deadline.

- 'Sexist questions' -

"We regret that as an industry, we have complained, but largely tolerated this behavior until now."

Ruffalo recently said he "cannot feel proud or happy" about winning a recent Golden Globe from a group with a "culture of secrecy and exclusion" that continues to "resist the change that is being asked from them."

The reforms, which were voted down by three members, included boosting membership by 50 percent in the next 18 months -- including more Black journalists -- hiring diversity consultants, and ending notoriously strict and opaque limits on who gets admitted. 

In response, the HFPA Monday issued a detailed timeline of its pledged reforms, adding that systemic reform "is long overdue, both in our organization as well as within the industry at large."

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