It’s always something with the Golden Globes.
Now Richard Rushfield of The Ankler reports that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association has reared its ugly head again.
I’m so glad Richard has been reporting this story. I wrote it about for 20 years, only to get myself banned from the ceremony by the worst elements of the HFPA. Two years ago they wouldn’t invite me, but they used my picture in their promos. LOL.You may recall that following numerous scandals, the HFPA was supposedly dissolved. The Globes were sold to Variety/Hollywood Reporter owners Jay Penske and Todd Boehly. They offered to give the remaining 60 members of the HFPA $75,000 salaries — which would encourage them to get off their various gravy trains.
Rushfield has been the case. He reported a few weeks ago that Penske and Boehly abruptly terminated the contract with those members saying they weren’t going to pay them anymore.
It turns out that whole sale of Penske/Boehly had to be approved by the California Attorney General. It was never was, and now the HFPA wants to take the Globes back and say adios to their new “owners.”
This will a lot of fun to watch. Penske and Boehly bought the Globes because they own Dick Clark Productions, which produces the show. Then they made a deal with CBS to air the show after NBC kicked it to the curb. The deal was possible because Penske and Boehly promised the past corruption had ended, there were now non-white members, and the prickly former members were gone.
But the HFPA is tenacious. Decades of swag, graft, and racism are hard to abandon. The HFPA was famous for members who had no bylines, taking studio paid trips around the world, and their own private press conferences with stars where they could get pictures and sometimes grab asses.
CBS may say that’s it if the HFPA is really back. That would eliminate networks because NBC won’t take them back and ABC has the Oscars.
Meantime, the Critics Choice Awards — 100% legit — have built up good will everywhere and air a week before the Globes on the E Channel and USA Network. The mishegos is at a minimum and all the members are professional and accounted for. Isn’t that the way to go now?
SCOOP: The HFPA is back from the dead… and gunning for the deal that gave Penske control of the Golden Globes. As the AG withholds approval, the original board has reassembled and wants to oust its president. More from @richardrushfield: https://t.co/pXd1nQwdk7 pic.twitter.com/Ekpkd1ECOi
— The Ankler (@TheAnkler) July 1, 2025
