Six months after vowing “transformational”Changeover the Golden Globe diversity scandal, the Hollywood Foreign Press AssociationFriday marked the 78th anniversary of its largest and most diverse class of new members.
The group that organizes the annual Golden Globe Awardsadded 21 new members, marking more than a 20% increase in overall membership, according to an HFPA statement. The recruited class consists of 29% new members who identify as Black, 24% who identify as Asian, 29% who identify as Latinx, and 19% who identify as Middle Eastern/North African.
“We are building a new organization, one that is not focused on fulfilling quotas, but instead has diversity and inclusion at its core (and) has ethical conduct as the norm,” HFPA President Helen Hoehne said in the statement.
NBC cancels 2022 Golden Globes:First, the HFPA needs to address its problems
Once 87 members, the HFPA has been engulfed by criticism over issues ranging from preferential treatment sought by its members to lack of racial representation in its ranks, which included no Black members, according to a Los Angeles Times investigation this year.
The national outcry, which included Tom Cruise is back with his three Golden Globe awards, peaked in May when NBC announced it won’t broadcast the Golden Globes in 2022, and would evaluate televising the 2023 awards if the HFPA made structural changes.
The organization embarked on a six-month-long reform process focused on key areas including membership, inclusion, good governance and transparency.
The HFPA was eliminated to recruit the new class. “outdated requirements and barriers to entry” to create a larger, more diverse organization.
Members can no longer accept gifts from any person associated with movies or television programs for which HFPA votes for awards. Members are required to pay for their own trip, and not accept trips from studios.
Tre’vell Anderson, part of the group’s restructured credential committee, said they were “proud”The first class of new members.
“That said, we recognize that this is just a first step in a long process,” Anderson said in the statement.
