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The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) will expand its membership as part of an effort to restore the Golden Globe Awards which it conducts to give accolades for national and international films, the Associated Press reported.
The non-profit, 84-member organization of international journalists, announced Thursday that it voted to reform its bylaws and expand its membership in a 63 to 19 vote after the Globes came under much criticism. Now, a new board will be elected that will include some non-members for the first time in the group's history that dates back to the 1940s. The Globes was denounced by many after ethical concerns were raised and a recent vote that led to no Black members being included.
"Three months ago, we made a promise to commit to transformational change and with this vote we kept the last and most significant promise in reimagining the HFPA and our role in the industry," said the board president of the HFPA, Ali Sar.
"All of these promised reforms can serve as industry benchmarks and allow us to once again partner meaningfully with Hollywood moving forward," Sar added.
For more reporting from the Associated Press, see below:
The HFPA's new measures are a bid to diversify its ranks and potentially restore the heavily criticized Globes.
The embattled 84-member press association voted 63 to 19 in favor of the new measures, including the election of a new board that will for the first time also include several non-members. The HFPA has long been populated by little-known international journalists who seldom publish.
Numerous reports about ethical lapses and a recent voting membership that included no Black members prompted an industry-wide rebuke of the Globes earlier this year. Studios and stars said they would boycott the Globes, Tom Cruise returned his three awards, prominent public relations firms said they would cut off talent from the group, and Time's Up pressured the HFPA to profoundly change. NBC, the longtime broadcast home to the awards, said it would not air a 2022 Globes.
NBC on Thursday said it was "encouraged" by the amended bylaws.
"This marks a positive step forward and signals the HFPA's willingness to do the work necessary for meaningful change," the network said in a statement.
The new bylaws go into effect immediately. A new board of directors will be elected by early September, the HFPA said. The application process for new members also went live online Thursday. The HFPA's once opaque membership process will be more transparent, with a selection committee composed of a majority of non-members. Other changes include diversity training and a new ban on members receiving gifts from studios and others.
This story was corrected Aug. 6 at 9:08 a.m. to correct the number of HFPA members to 84 instead of 83.
