LOS ANGELES — Is the Golden Globes broadcast poised to return to NBC more than a year after the network and others pulled the plug on the awards show?
NBC and others boycotted the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the group that hosts the Golden Globes, after a L.A. Times investigation in February 2021 that highlighted alleged financial and ethical lapses in the organization and revealed that none of the then-87 members was Black.
The Hollywood Reporter said Tuesday night that the Golden Globe Awards will be back on NBC in 2023, citing multiple high-level sources briefed on the plan.
But a source familiar with the matter who was not authorized to comment told the L.A. Times the report was "premature." Although NBC has been in discussions with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, it has not finalized formal plans for a broadcast, the source said.
Another individual with direct knowledge of the discussions said that the "parties are making progress and discussions are moving towards that" goal, but that "it's just not done yet."
Returning to the air would give a major boost to the struggling HFPA, which took a big financial hit when NBC opted not to broadcast the show this year. The organization had generated $27.4 million a year from the network.
In the last year, the HFPA has undertaken a series of reforms, including establishing new bylaws, banning gifts and adding 21 new members, six of whom are Black.
It has also announced a series of partnerships including with the NAACP and the World Bank.
Last month, Todd Boehly, the interim chief executive of the HFPA and the chairman of private equity firm Eldridge Industries — the parent company of longtime Globes producer Dick Clark Productions with a stake in the Hollywood Reporter — announced members had voted to approve his plan to transform the nonprofit international journalists' group into a for-profit venture controlled by his company.
Under the deal, HFPA members would be paid $75,000 annually for several years, according to two members who declined to be named as they are not authorized to speak publicly.
The plan also needs a final sign-off from California's attorney general.
Representatives of the HFPA and NBC declined to comment.
On Monday, the HFPA sent a six-page memo to various industry stakeholders touting the reforms, saying it has "answered the call for change by restructuring the organization in order to address institutional and systemic concerns. This has allowed the Association to increase diversity, transparency, and accountability on its journey of transformational change."
But it remains to be seen whether those efforts will win over Hollywood. Amazon, Netflix and Warner Media, which publicly rebuked the organization last year, have yet to make any statements.
Further, while some publicists have signaled their interest in getting back on board with the HFPA, a number still question the group's reforms.
"Anecdotally, we don't know very many agency PR people who are feeling they've done enough to recommend to their clients to go back," said one, questioning efforts to expand membership and the accreditation process for members.
"The only thing that has changed since April when there was consensus among publicists that they had not done enough is that they are now a for-profit," this individual said.
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(L.A. Times staff writer Meg James contributed to this report.)
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