Lost their shine or still relevant?

The Golden Globe boycott is the result of years of questionable practices by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

Angels:

No stars, no red carpet, no TV broadcasts: This year’s Golden Globe winners will be announced on Sunday in a greatly reduced ceremony. But do rewards still matter?

Hollywood studios normally use the glamorous sheen of the Globes as a key marketing boost for their movies and TV shows, but this year they are publicly boycotting the whole affair.

“Right now Hollywood, for the most part, doesn’t pay attention to the Golden Globes,” said Marc Malkin, chief culture and events editor for Variety.

“If Hollywood doesn’t recognize these awards at all, what significance can they really have? I don’t think much,” he told AFP.

The boycott is the result of years of questionable practices by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, whose members vote on the Globes.

The group of around 100 entertainment writers with ties to foreign publications have long been accused – privately, in Hollywood circles – of a litany of failures ranging from corruption to racism.

But the inordinate power of the Globes – right after the Oscars in terms of influence – meant that any criticism of the group was reserved, until a Los Angeles Times article showing the HFPA had no black members opened up the issues. valves last year.

Television rights holder NBC has removed the broadcast of this year’s awards.

So Sunday’s 79th Golden Globe Awards – which are due to start at 6:00 p.m. (02:00 GMT Monday) – will have no audiences, media or stars, with organizers officially citing the resurgence of the pandemic as the reason.

But Malkin said, “The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has tried to bring in celebrities to announce this year’s Golden Globe winners. And no celebrity – no celebrity – has said yes.”

‘Barometer’

This year’s event is a far cry from the Globes’ traditional role as “Hollywood’s favorite party” and the first major event of film awards season.

Films winning Globes – or even getting nominations – typically report increases in ticket sales, and studios in other years have proudly displayed their Globe counts on billboards and advertisements on Sunset Boulevard.

This year, Kenneth Branagh’s “Belfast” and Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog” topped the Globe nominations, with seven apiece.

But neither social media accounts nor trailers for the film made any mention of it, instead announcing other accolades such as Critics Choice Award nominations and others offered by local critic groups, as well as festival awards.

“If you’re a studio hoping to get Golden Globe recognition, but you get the Golden Globe and you don’t actually celebrate it, does that matter? Malkin asked.

Of course, Hollywood loves a good comeback story, and few would be brave enough to publicly undo a comeback for the internationally acclaimed awards.

“A golden statue is a golden statue. And for decades it has been a barometer of success,” said Richard Licata, TV communications strategist and CEO of Licata & Co.

“To me, the Globes have always mattered to anyone campaigning for an Oscar or an Emmy,” he added.

Since the scandal erupted, the HFPA has rushed through reforms, including admitting its largest annual number of new, especially more diverse, members.

He banned members from accepting lavish gifts and hotel stays from studios wooing their votes.

“As the months have passed and this organization has reorganized, re-governed, I think healthier minds have recently detected that the boycott was more than a whiff of personal vendetta,” he said. declared Licata.

While the studios publicly own the HFPA at arm’s length, sources told AFP members quietly received links or DVDs and were invited to screenings – sometimes even at the behest of their prominent stars.

To recover?

So, do the Globes still matter? Maybe one day.

“It’s an industry that has a very long history of forgiveness. They’ll take something away, and then after a while there will be forgiveness,” Licata said.

“Yeah, I think the Globes are coming back.”

(This story was not edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)