Dear Gossips,
Back in 2021, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, host of the Golden Globes, was rocked by controversy, which very nearly was the end of the Globes. But while the HFPA was ultimately dissolved, the Golden Globes bounced back as a for-profit organization owned by billionaire Todd Boehly, who also owns Dick Clark Productions, which produces the Globes’ telecast, and he has a stake in the Beverly Hilton, which is the home of the Globes.
To deepen the incestuous relationship between these entities, Dick Clark Productions CEO Jay Penske also owns three of the four entertainment trades—Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, and Deadline—through Penske Media. The Golden Globes are hermetically sealed within a couple of billionaires’ portfolios.
But it’s the “for profit” part we’re talking about today, because an article ran this week in Richard Rushfield’s Ankler newsletter which caught my eye. The Golden Globes, which no longer even pretends to have financial transparency, is apparently hosting events in Middle Eastern countries with authoritarian governments, notably Türkiye and Egypt.
As an American with an incoming administration that’s looking a little authoritarian, I hardly have any stones to throw. And I think we’re past the point of expecting anyone in Hollywood to stand on scruples and not do business in places that don’t align with their personal values (especially from Jay Penske, who got a $200 million investment from Saudi Arabia and didn’t divest after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi). I also don’t deny that there are MENA stars who deserve to be recognized for their work (although the Türkiye event included an award for Sharon Stone). But this thing with the Golden Globes, it’s less about the where and the who of what’s happening, it’s the HOW.
Which is basically, in secret. These events hosted in just the last few months in Türkiye and Egypt had very little publicity, which is odd because the Golden Globes are explicitly connected to THREE major entertainment industry trade publications, but not ONE of them mentioned either event. You’d have to go to the Golden Globes website to see the news—which no one is doing—or know what “Enigma Magazine” is, as they had the press release about the Egypt event. Not one of Jay Penske’s trades published anything about these events, which is kind of odd, right? What’s the point of creating your own award bubble if you’re not going to use it?
Unless these events are some kind of money scheme, allegedly, supposedly, you know, maybe possibly kind of sort of. But it does look like some sort of payola, like “throw some money our way and we’ll host a party for whoever you want, wherever you want”. Where the money goes is anyone’s guess. The Golden Globes website, by the way, does not advertise their non-profit venture, the Golden Globes Foundation. That lives on its own, separate site. Just pointing out interesting things to think about!
The HFPA was done in by their culture of secrecy, which once exposed, brought about the downfall of the organization. Now, the Golden Globes are holding international events they seemingly don’t want Hollywood to know about, and all of this is happening amidst rumors that Penske Media is having money trouble. Granted, everyone is having money trouble right now, no one person or corporation has a corner on “tough times”. But it’s just so interesting, isn’t it, that as money is drying up all over, the Golden Globes, a subsidiary of “Penske Media Eldridge”, the corporate union of Todd Boehly and Jay Penske’s overlapping interests, is hosting award ceremonies they’re not advertising in their own trades.
The promise of the new Golden Globes was “employee-based accountability”, but this looks like same song, different verse. The Golden Globes are inherently shady. Why are we still playing this game?
The Golden Globes will air on January 5, 2025, for worse or worse.
Live long and gossip,
Sarah