CANCELLED: 79th Golden Globe Awards Held Behind Closed Doors, No Red Carpet, No Televised Broadcast; Due To “Lack Of Diversity”

BEVERLY HILLS, CA – The 79th Golden Globe Awards – annual accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) recognizing excellence in both film and television – was surprisingly not televised or livestreamed this Sunday as per the norm for the event, with the reason cited by NBC for the drastic change not being the COVID-19 pandemic, but “diversity” issues related to HFPA.

The awards ceremony – which was also free of nominees and presenters – was held “privately” this year with only select HFPA members and grant recipients in attendance; winners were announced via the organization’s website and social media platforms.

NBC pulled the plug on the show because of what they claimed was a “lack of diversity” within HFPA’s voting membership; Netflix, Amazon and Warner Media also pulled out of the event, stating that they also would no longer participate in the Golden Globes until HFPA amends their practices.

The controversy stems from a Los Angeles Times article in February 2021 that noted that HFPA had absolutely no Black voters in its 87-person membership, despite the organization representing more than 40 countries. HFPA quickly kowtowed and issued an apology, promising to diversify their ranks.

“We must and will do more. These are the initial steps we will take over the next 60 days,” they said. “We are committed to achieving these objectives in order to increase transparency in our organization and build a more inclusive community.”

In October 2021, HFPA announced 21 new members – six of them Black – but it wasn’t enough for NBC, who announced that they would nonetheless banish the 2022 Golden Globe Awards from television until a more significant change was made.

HFPA has also been accused of “anti-Asian racism” when it comes to the films that they nominate for awards; in 2020, the group received criticism for nominating prominent Asian films for the Best Foreign Language Film category – such as Minari and Parasite – but not for the Best Motion Picture category.