NBC Is Pushing for ‘Necessary Changes’ at HFPA Amid Golden Globes Diversity Backlash
On Wednesday, a top NBC exec said the network is using its “influence” to encourage what it says are “necessary changes” at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association amid the ongoing backlash over the Golden Globes group’s lack of diversity. However, the network didn’t specify what, if any, steps it would be taking toward the show it has broadcast annually for decades.
“Our perceived silence on this should not be equated with apathy or a lack of concern,” NBCUniversal executive vice president and chief diversity officer Craig Robinson told the Los Angeles Times. “We are taking these issues very seriously, and we also understand our role and the importance of our role in encouraging HFPA to make what we deem to be necessary changes — and we are using that influence.”
“As an organization, we hold ourselves to a high standard of transparency, ethics and creating an inclusive culture,” Robinson said. “It is important that our partners think similarly when it comes to these issues,” he continued.
*Also Read:* 14 Journalists to Golden Globes: Stop 'Blocking Qualified' People and Admit Us to HFPA
NBC has hosted the Golden Globes since 1996 and its current deal extends the relationship between the network and the HFPA to 2026. But the Globes as a show, and the HFPA as an organization, are now at the center of a firestorm after accusations of self-dealing and bias and the fact the 87-member group has no Black members.
On Monday, the organization vowed to expand its rolls and have at least 13% Black members by the end of 2021. That announcement came shortly after dozens of Hollywood PR firms threatened a blackout of the Golden Globes and all HFPA events by their clients.
*Related stories from TheWrap:*
14 Journalists to Golden Globes: Stop 'Blocking Qualified' People and Admit Us to HFPA
Shonda Rhimes, Ava DuVernay Call Out Golden Globes Voters for 'Ignorance,' Self-Dealing
