Hollywood Critics Association members resign after Awards Group Critic

A handful of Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) members, including three Variety employees, have resigned from the fledgling awards body over the expulsion of a critic who raised questions about the group’s financial status, fundraising distribution and operations — then took her complaints public.

One insider told that Variety’s senior awards editor Clayton Davis, senior artisans editor Jazz Tangcay and red carpet reporter Angelique Jackson all resigned from the HCA. Kristen Lopez, TV editor at IndieWire, announced her resignation via Twitter.

This dustup has caused a split within the HCA and outside it. The HCA was founded from the Los Angeles Online Film Critics Society. The org, now with more than 100 members, was created in 2016 as a place to include bloggers, YouTubers and other multimedia journalists not affiliated with mainstream outlets — a group that’s organically more diverse than traditional critics’ circles.

In a StatementWednesday saw the HCA announce that Shannon McGrew, a former member, was no longer with us. She is the creator of horror fanzine. Nightmarish Conjurings?, “expressed resentment towards the association and its leadership” and demanded answers to a series of questions the member posted on the HCA’s private Facebook page. McGrew raised concerns about fundraising and dues appropriations, the group’s nonprofit status and its practice of charging for participation in certain awards shows (common in Hollywood awards circles).

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McGrew stated that she was not satisfied by the responses and began to complain on social media. McGrew was not satisfied with the responses and sent an HCA cease-and-desist note on August 19. She was eventually expelled.

“The HCA leadership worked diligently to diffuse the tension and appease the individual,”The HCA wrote. “We provided more information and evidence to disprove insinuations of financial and awards-related improprieties, while also creating a publicly accessible FAQ page with input from all members.”

McGrew and another member started arguing in the Facebook group. Tensions escalated both online and there.

“We also offered different avenues for direct communication, but every good faith attempt was met with insults, mockery and increasingly more derogatory, defamatory, and disturbingly threatening posts,”HCA maintained its statement. “Shielding these baseless actions under the premise of ‘just asking questions in the name of transparency,’ the now former member imposed an aggressive smear campaign seemingly aimed at destroying the organization.”

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The HCA’s statement did not name McGrew, who posted online that the statement sent out by the HCA was initially an internal letter. However, she claimed that the statement did not include mention of McGrew. “the other person involved who was harassing/bullying me.”

“At this point this is a blatant act of retaliation for speaking out,”McGrew wrote. McGrew did not comment on this article.

“I’m team @shannon_mcgrew on this one. Whatever the hell is going on over at the HCA sounds more like the kind of drama I expect from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association,”Eric Vespe, critic, wrote in a Tweet. “Sending legal threats to a former member because they made you look bad ain’t a good look, y’all.”

On August 14, the Hollywood Critics Association hosted its second annual HCA Television Awards. This year, the group also hosted its fifth annual HCA Film Awards. Although the group is a California non-profit, it is not a federal 501(c(3) nonprofit corporation. It is also not tax-exempt. The HCA’s non-profit status was still pending as of August 22.

The HCA received support from many members, but they emphasized its inclusive founding process and subsequent diversity.

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