The Golden Globes will try again tonight to improve their image after years of scandal.
Will it work?
This year brings new complaints and chances for trouble. Already there have been reports that members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association are being denied access to the Beverly Hilton ballroom tonight during the show.
The HFPA was technically disbanded when Todd Boehly’s Eldridge company and Penske Media took over last year. (Those companies also own the show’s producer, Dick Clark Productions, plus Variety, the Hollywood Reporter, Deadline.com, and Billboard among others.)
According to Page Six, the HFPA contingent and other Globes members or voters will sit in an overflow room to watch the show. After the show, I’ve been told, many members are not invited to the after party hosted by the Globes at the Hilton.
Then there’s the new set up for members. Previously. the officers of the HFPA got small salaries, all the while getting lots of travel and entertainment perks. In 2014, I reported that the Globes then president Theo Kingma made around $58,000.
Today, a decade later, president Helen Hoehne makes $215,177. In 2021, CEO Gregory Goeckner — not a journalist or a critic — earned $250,000. In 2023, his salary zoomed $326,072. That’s a 23% increase over two years.
A long list of Globes directors (not movie directors, board of directors) now receive sizeable salaries, as well as the previous perks.
The HFPA had been mired in legal trouble for the last four years. According to their 2023 Form 990, over $4 million went to legal services.
The success or failure of tonight’s show will depend on ratings for CBS, which has jumped aboard the Boehly-Dick Clark Express also with the American Music Awards and other awards shows. But ratings are hooked to the popularity of the movies involved, and this year there’s a scarcity of blockbusters. Only “Wicked” has been a bonanza, with $450 million at the box office. But several of the films — like “Emilia Perez” — are only streaming. The bulk of awards entries — like “Anora,” “A Real Pain,” “A Complete Unknown,” “The Substance” — have had minuscule receipts so far.
The show’s success will also hinge on the host, Nikki Glaser. As I reported yesterday, she’s already said the humor tonight will offend anyone, that she’s avoiding mention of things like Blake Lively’s scandal and other potentially embarrassing topics. Her jokes will be limited the dinner food and other light subjects.
See you tonight at 8pm!
