The American director Steven Spielberg held two Golden Globes in his hands at the last edition. FREDERIC J. BROWN / –
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), organizer of the Golden Globes and plagued by scandals in recent years, will disappear after private investors bought these awards, the association and buyers’ group announced in a press release Monday, June 12.
The HFPA, which brings together around 100 entertainment journalists associated with foreign media, has been awarding the famous Golden Globes to film and television stars for almost 80 years. The most-attended awards after the Oscars, usually presented by the entertainment industry’s elite, were abandoned by the industry in early 2022 amid allegations of corruption and racism.
The sale of the Golden Globes to a group of private investors including US billionaire Todd Boehly was announced in July 2022. “Today marks an important milestone in the development of the Golden Globes”, said the businessman in the press release, whose company Eldridge worked with Penske Media Corporation for this acquisition. The sale “will ultimately lead to the demise of the HFPA”, according to the joint statement. No timeline has been set for this dissolution.
Juicy broadcast offers
Once approved, the HFPA’s resources will be used to form a non-profit association focused on entertainment charities. That includes $44 million of the $48 the HFPA will receive from the sale of the Golden Globes, according to a letter seen by – from California’s attorney general.
Thanks to lucrative broadcast deals, the HFPA has wielded immense power in Hollywood since the 1990s. In 2021 the Los Angeles Times had investigated the functioning of the association and found in particular that there were no blacks represented in it, which paved the way for an avalanche of criticism and revelations. These had led to a series of reforms. Upon its return to television in January, the Golden Globes had its lowest ratings in its history at 6.3 million viewers, compared to 18 million in 2020.
American businessman Todd Boehly is chairman of the London football club Chelsea. Notably, the holding company Eldridge Industries includes Dick Clark Productions, which already produced the Golden Globes broadcast. He is also a minority shareholder in several Hollywood trade publications, including The germanic, and in the independent film studio A24, which is behind recent big hits Everything, Everywhere, All at Once and The Whale.
