Reports of the resurgence of the Golden Globes on NBC may be premature.
A January 2023 broadcast of the Shindig, organized by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, is “not a done deal,” according to a well-placed source. While talks have been held between the longtime Globes broadcaster and the Helen Hoehne-led HFPA, no final agreement has been reached to date. Sticking points include the timing of a potential 2023 Globe on NBC, with a range of dates circulating around things like NFL games and more. Perhaps more telling are concerns about a backlash to a return to the Globes and reforms the HFPA has enacted to regain Hollywood favor.
NBC announced in March 2021 that it would not air the 2022 Globes.
A two-page letter sent Monday to various stakeholders, including distributors and publicists, said: “The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has answered calls for change by restructuring the organization to address institutional and systemic concerns. “
But for all of its claims of change — as well as meetings with representatives from Black, Latinx, Asian, AAPI, Native American, people with disabilities, and LGBTQIA+ populations across the industry — the HFPA offered few details about who it was significantly involved with worked together and if.
The letter quotes HFPA President Hoehne, interim CEO Todd Boehly, Chief Diversity Officer Neil Phillips and other non-members and members. This week’s correspondence was preceded by HFPA membership on July 28, which endorsed Eldridge Industries LLC’s proposal to create a new private and for-profit company to administer the Golden Globes and a separate, not-for-profit company to manage its charitable and philanthropic programs maintains.
In that regard, a number of Tinseltown heavyweights have requested a mass virtual meeting with HFPA leadership and Boehly for clarification on the organization’s reforms and future plans, we’re hearing. But none of them have received a response to that request, it said.
While the HFPA added just over 20 new members over the past year, the majority of its membership remains the membership that existed when the organization was in the spotlight of a scandal. This grandfather membership still mostly relates to small outlets and publications and blogs. There is also the complication of actual membership and voting members.
Then there’s the problem of the star-power-hungry Globes actually bringing A-listers to the stage. The concern for Comcast-owned NBC is whether high-profile publicists would provide the Globes with outstanding talent.
Said awards strategist told Deadline this afternoon: “The problem is not that the HFPA has voted for a large number of nominees in the past, the problem is that the organization is not transparent and that the former members are still there. There was no turnover.”
NBC has not commented on a possible return of the Golden Globes in 2023 when contacted by Deadline today. The HFPA also declined to comment today.
In September 2018, the network signed an eight-year deal to air the Golden Globes through 2026, continuing a 23-year tradition. It is estimated that NBC paid about $60 million per year to air the ceremony under the current agreement.
Of course, it’s been a turbulent year plus for the beleaguered HFPA and its signature trophy show, which has been a magnet for controversy for decades. Just before the 78th Globes ceremony in February 2021, the HFPA began criticizing the lack of diversity within its ranks. More backlash ensued after the group made an initially ill-received statement on it and its subsequent plan for “transformative change” during the virtual 2021 Globes.
In a March 2021 letter to the HFPA blasters, a collective of Hollywood publicists warned the group it was better to make significant changes — or risk telling their star clients to stay away from the ceremony. About seven months later, the organization announced it would be hosting the 2022 Golden Globes without televising. This stripped-down ceremony on Jan. 9, which was also not livestreamed, took place with no celebrity presenters or nominees and no red carpet. Instead, it placed the focus on the HFPA’s philanthropic efforts; Individuals from organizations that received donations from the group announced the nominees and winners.
Despite the commotion, some of the evening’s winners sang hymns of praise from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
HFPA President Höhne and others within the organization have been on a charm offensive for the past few months, speaking to industry groups, those in power and others to convince them of the reforms the organization has introduced.
Erik Pedersen contributed to this report.