‘Systemic racism’ leads to another year of awards whitewash
Golden Globes promises to appoint black judge after British series snubbed in favour of ridiculed show
THE organisers of the Golden Globe Awards have promised to appoint a black judge to vote on nominees “as soon as possible”, after the criticallyacclaimed British series I May Destroy You was overlooked in favour of the heavily ridiculed Emily in Paris.
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, a panel of 87 entertainment journalists with no black members, was accused of being part of “systemic racism” in the TV industry for its snub of the BBC show directed by Michaela Coel, the British actress.
It later emerged that more than 30 panel members were flown to France to visit the set of Emily in Paris in 2019 where they were treated to a two-night stay at the five-star Peninsula Paris Hotel, where rooms start at $1,400 (£1,000) a night, and lunch at the Musée des Arts Forains, a “private museum with amusement rides dating to 1950”.
The trip was paid for by the show’s developer, Paramount Network. The panel told The Sunday Telegraph that “the notion that these visits have any influence over nominees for the Golden Globes is absurd”.
Deborah Capoken, a writer on Emily in Paris, published an opinion piece in which she claimed: “That I May Destroy You did not get one Golden Globe nod is not only wrong, it’s what is wrong with everything”, later claiming “systemic racism in America” was partially to blame.
The association faced further criticism for failing to include several blackled Oscar contenders such as Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Da 5 Bloods and Judas and the Black Messiah.
A spokesman for the association, which will host the Golden Globes ceremony tomorrow for the 78th time, told The Telegraph it was “fully committed to ensuring our membership is reflective of the communities nities around the world who love film, lm, TV, and the artists inspiring and educating them”. He added that hat “we understand we need to bring in black members, as well as members from other under-represented backgrounds”.
NBC, which broadcasts the Golden Globes, bes, was also under pressure e to take a stand against the e largely white judging panel. anel. It declined to comment ment on the lack of black members and the accusation n that those members could be e bought.
Kjersti Flaa, an n entertainment journalist living ving in Los Angeles who recently ntly filed a lawsuit against the Hollywood Foreign Press ss Association accusing it of institutionalising a “culture of corruption”, told The Telegraph that rumours around judges being sent gifts in return for positive coverage and possible nominations “were nothing new”. She said: “Some of them are so old I imagine the Emily in Paris thing was because you get sent so many links it is easier just to watch something on Netflix... they don’t watch the links and then call each other to ask ‘what shall I vote for’”.
Returning Golden Globes host Ricky Gervais has regularly made the joke that the awards could be bought, referencing rumours that Pia Zadora’s 1982 best new star award for Butterfly, which had yet to be released, had been bought by the film’s sole investor and Zadora’s husband Meshulam Riklis. Zadora denied this was the case.
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association spokesman said that the organisation “has made huge strides over the last decade to address these concerns” including working with Ernst & Young and introduced a gift policy.