Golden Globes Row: Tom Cruise Returns Awards; NBC Drops Broadcast

Major Hollywood studios & actors called out the organizers' record on diversity and transparency.

Tom Cruise returns his Golden Globe trophies. 

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter)

On Monday, 10 May, US television network NBC dropped its broadcast of the Golden Globes ceremony in 2022 after a backlash over the ethics of the group that hands out the annual awards and its lack of diversity, as per a report by Reuters.

Actor Tom Cruise joined the criticism by streaming platforms and studios, returning the three Golden Globe honours he won for Jerry Maguire, Magnolia and Born on the Fourth of July, Variety and Deadline Hollywood reported.

NBC decided to cancel the broadcast even after the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), which gives out the awards, said in a statement that they would recruit more Black members and make other changes in the coming 18 months. The network had initially welcomed the move, but later decided to wait and see if the changes were implemented.

“Change of this magnitude takes time and work, and we feel strongly that the HFPA needs time to do it right. As such, NBC will not air the 2022 Golden Globes. Assuming the organization executes on its plan, we are hopeful we will be in a position to air the show in January 2023,” NBC's statement read.

The HFPA has also been accused of making sexist and racist remarks and accepting favours from celebrities and studios.

Following NBC's announcement, the HFPA said that implementing 'transformational change' remained a priority regardless of when the Golden Globes will be aired.

In a statement, the HFPA reiterated its planned reforms and also presented a timetable. It said that by August 2021, it would hire a new chief executive, add 20 new members, approve a new code of conduct and provide diversity and sexual harassment training among other steps.

On Saturday, Scarlett Johansson joined critics including Netflix, Amazon Studios, WarnerMedia and Hollywood’s top publicity companies, who said they wouldn't work with HFPA unless it made far-reaching changes.