A Golden Globes spokesperson called the federal lawsuit “a new low” for the defunct HFPA
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The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), the former operators of the Golden Globe awards, has filed a federal lawsuit accusing Penske Media, its chairman Jay Penske and other defendants of orchestrating a “clandestine” plot to seize control of the glamorous annual awards show.
The complaint, filed Tuesday, July 28 in U.S. District Court, claims that the defendants carried out an “illicit scheme” that ultimately led to the dissolution of the 80-year-old HFPA, the group that created the Golden Globes in 1944 and represented foreign media outlets.
The HFPA is seeking “at least” $150 million in damages and a court order canceling the acquisition of the Golden Globes’ assets, rights and properties. Penske Media is the parent company of The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Deadline, Rolling Stone and other publications.
The complaint alleges that around 2021, Penske and billionaire associate Todd Boehly used the major Hollywood trade publications that they control to instigate a boycott of the HFPA with the goal of devaluing the organization and making it vulnerable to acquisition. At the time, lack of diversity in the organization, financial and ethical conflicts, and other issues led to an industry-wide protest, with major companies like Netflix and Amazon boycotting the group, publicists withholding talent from interviews. As a result, NBC pulled the 2022 Golden Globes off the air.
Despite making structural reforms, the HFPA was later officially dissolved. Dick Clark Productions and Eldridge announced in June 2023 that they had taken over the awards show from the HFPA.
The lawsuit suggests that Penske’s acquisition of the Globes gave them “monopolistic control” of multiple major award shows (including the Billboard Music Awards, the American Music Awards, the Latin American Music Awards, and the Academy of Country Music Awards) and the major Hollywood trade publications that sell the advertising packages for award contestants.
“This case arises from a clandestine scheme to fraudulently acquire the prestigious and valuable 80-year-old Golden Globe Awards, destroy their founder and former owner, the HFPA, and exert monopolistic control over the Hollywood trades, awards, and advertising markets,” the complaint states. “The malfeasance underpinning the sale of the Golden Globes is extensive, and the paper trail is damning,”
A spokesperson for the Golden Globes responded to the lawsuit with a statement received by USA TODAY:
“Today’s lawsuit continues the absurdity and irrationality that the industry has come to expect from the defunct organization formerly known as the HFPA,” the statement reads. “This latest act of duplicity is a new low, even for the HFPA.”
“We remain troubled that the HFPA, an organization so widely criticized for ethical failures, non-inclusivity, racism, and misconduct involving talent, continues to find attorneys willing to push such illegitimate claims,” the statement added.