NBC Cancels 2022 Golden Globes After Ethics, Diversity Complaints

NBC Cancels 2022 Golden Globes After Ethics, Diversity Complaints
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association's Golden Globe statuette is seen with its red velvet-lined, leather-bound chest during a news conference in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Jan. 6, 2009. (Fred Prouser/Reuters)
Reuters
5/10/2021
Updated:
5/10/2021

LOS ANGELES—NBC said on Monday it will not broadcast Hollywood’s Golden Globes ceremony in 2022 following complaints about ethical lapses and lack of diversity among the group that hands out the annual awards for film and television.

The decision came despite a plan approved last week by the small Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), which hands out the awards, to recruit more black members and make other changes over the next year.

NBC said in a statement on Monday that the reforms were not quick enough.

“Change of this magnitude takes time and work, and we feel strongly that the HFPA needs time to do it right. As such, NBC will not air the 2022 Golden Globes,” NBC said.

“Assuming the organization executes on its plan, we are hopeful we will be in a position to air the show in January 2023,” the statement added.

The HFPA did not immediately return a request for comment.

Signage promoting the 77th annual Golden Globe Awards and NBC appears in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Jan. 5, 2020. (Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
Signage promoting the 77th annual Golden Globe Awards and NBC appears in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Jan. 5, 2020. (Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

The annual Golden Globe ceremony has become one of the biggest Hollywood awards shows in the run-up to the Oscars.

The moves follow an investigation published in February by the Los Angeles Times that noted there were no black people currently in the HFPA. The newspaper also raised long-standing ethical questions over the close relationships between the HFPA and movie studios that may influence the choice of Golden Globe nominees and winners.