VS’is an unusual first whose prestigious Golden Globes, which set the tone for the film awards season a few weeks before the Oscars, would have gone well: the traditional ceremony scheduled for Sunday evening, at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles, will not be broadcast by their historic partner, the NBC channel, and will take place without stars, press, or red carpet. A sort of no show, a black screen that illustrates the boycott of the profession – agent, artists and studios – which protests against the internal practices and the lack of diversity of the Foreign Press Association in Hollywood (HFPA). That is to say a hundred foreign correspondents based in Hollywood who vote for these Golden Globes that they organize and sell to the NBC channel for the tidy sum of $ 20 million for an audience of around 18 million viewers.
“It will not be the same event as usual, but we have always said that we will make the nominations and that we will give the prizes no matter what,” the president of the France-Presse told Agence France-Presse. Hollywood Foreign Press Association Helen Hoehne at the Beverly Hilton nominations announcement last December alongside surprise guest rapper Snoop Dogg. A sword in the water saw the turn of events.
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Suddenly, no one will come to receive their trophies which one wonders if they will be sent to the winners – under penalty of being sent back to the sender – or will remain in the boxes. No chance, therefore, to see the many nominees of the selection including four French people: Omar Sy in the title role of Lupine, the hit Netflix series, Marion Cotillard starring in Leos Carax’s musical film, Annette, and Tahar Rahim for the miniseries The snake, dedicated to the journey of serial killer Charles Sobhraj. Last year the actor, nominated for the film Designated guilty, had not taken down the statuette. Finally, the composer Alexandre Desplats, already multi-Oscar winner, is selected for the soundtrack of French Dispatch by Wes Anderson. On the television side, it’s the political series Succession which dominates nominations, followed closely by satire The Morning Show, with Jennifer Aniston.
This Hollywood cabal, led by the agents and the biggest publicists (press attachés) of stars like George Clooney, Nicole Kidman, Denzel Washington or Anthony Hopkins, causes a real discomfort and signs the death warrant of a demonstration of which he Until recently, everyone agreed to recognize the influence and relevance. But that was before the waves of Time’s Up, Black Live Matters and #MeToo, relayed by the media, which fell on the Association accused of lack of representativeness, sexism, racism, harassment and even corruption. . Close the ban.
The hypocrisy of Hollywood pundits
“It was all very well to organize information meetings with the agents and the studios,” testifies anonymously one of the members of the Association, to participate in awareness-raising courses on minorities and harassment, to commit to the non- discrimination and a disciplinary process for transgressors, review our statutes, hire a diversity officer and twenty-one new members, including six African-Americans and Latinos, we are still in the crosshairs and in complete confusion. “
For a year now, with the exception of Disney, Warner Bros. and platforms like Netflix and Amazon have indicated that they will no longer work with the HFPA. And the same anonymous witness to recall with a smile the beautiful hypocrisy of the Hollywood pundits, “the same people who accuse us of corruption today were the first corrupting agents, multiplying the gifts, the cases of champagne, the invitations in the best restaurants and hotels, in the United States as in Europe, to push their favorites ”.
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Despite these reforms greeted with skepticism, the HFPA is really no longer popular, considered “toxic” or, according to actress Scarlett Johansson who dealt it the coup de grace, as “an organization legitimized by Harvey Weinstein to create an impetus favoring the recognition of the Academy [des Oscars] “. As for Tom Cruise, he returned the Association’s three Golden Globes, while Shonda Rhimes, Ava DuVernay and Mark Ruffalo warned “that they can no longer ignore the injustice and inequity in [leur] own industry ”.
Deprived of screenings and press conferences, the members of the HFPA who were on technical layoff are managing to ensure their work as correspondents for their support around the world. Luckily, they have bonuses (nearly two million dollars in 2020) and a nice pot. We are talking about 50 to 60 million dollars collected thanks to the rights of retransmission of the Golden Globes regulated by the chain NBC, which should pay this year 20 to 25 million dollars to the HFPA for breach of contract.
$ 50 million in donations
In addition, the Association can count on the support of weight, the businessman and billionaire Todd Boehly, owner of the Beverly Hills Hotel and the Lakers team, and who has just been bombed president of the Association. Under his leadership, the HFPA will increase its donations to cultural and humanitarian organizations and highlight its philanthropic works.
“Over the past twenty-five years, the HFPA has donated more than $ 50 million,” the organizers said in a statement. But the Association is still suspected of racism, despite a planned partnership with the powerful NAACP, the National Association for the Advancement of People of Color.
In Los Angeles, the pseudo-ceremony on Sunday evening is perceived by some members of the HFPA as “a masquerade”, a kind of virtual killing. Questions: Will the wind of revolt also blow over the Oscars ceremony on March 27? Put in penance, the Golden Globes, born in 1944, will they survive this ordeal? In the land of second chance and imposed contrition, anything is possible.