Reprinted from Deadline Hollywood by Mike Fleming Jr on March 15, 2021.
In a letter addressed to HFPA COO Greg Goecker and Board Chair Meher Tatna, a collective of Hollywood publicists [on Monday] warned the group it had better make meaningful changes, or risk them telling their star clients to stay away from the Golden Globes.
The HFPA’s board issued a lengthy statement in response, which says in part that the board has “unanimously approved a plan to increase membership to a minimum of 100 members this year, with a requirement that at least 13 percent of the membership be Black journalists.” …
The HFPA, never the most credible of organizations, is usually the subject of an expose every few years. This year was a doozy, with The LA Times uncovering that the group didn’t have a single Black member, and that it was subsidizing the paltry income of voting “journalists” by paying them to be on committees. While HFPA heads have repeatedly pledged it has heard the criticism and will change, there is skepticism. Times Up has demanded that the board resigning would be a good start for an overhaul. …
