Reprinted from Deadline Hollywood by Dino-Ray Ramos on February 25, 2021.
Days ahead of its annual Golden Globe Awards, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association has responded to criticism about the lack of diversity among its ranks. The group was the target of a scathing exposé by The Los Angeles Times on Sunday that noted HFPA has no Black journalists among its 87 members.
“We are 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,” HFPA said in a statement tonight. “We understand that we need to bring in Black members, as well as members from other underrepresented backgrounds, and we will immediately work to implement an action plan to achieve these goals as soon as possible.”
A spokesperson for the group added that its membership is majority female and that 35% of its members are from non-European countries. The spokesperson added that HFPA welcomes applications for membership from all Southern California-based journalists of all ethnic and cultural backgrounds who write for international media and has not ruled out changing its rules to expand its applicant pool. …
