Just two days ahead of the Golden Globe Awards, the Time’s Up organization on Friday launched a #TimesUpGlobes protest campaign over the lack of diversity in the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which hands out the honors.
“Hollywood Foreign Press Association: Not a Single Member Out of 87” reads the messaging of the group, which Time’s Up encouraged Hollywood figures to share on their social platforms.
The group singled out recent reports by the Los Angeles Times and New York Times questioning the credibility of the organization, including the fact the 87-member group doesn’t have a single Black member.
Soon, top Hollywood figures such as Judd Apatow, Ava DuVernay and Shonda Rhimes were weighing in.
So many crazy things about the @goldenglobes and the Hollywood Foreign press but this is awful. #timesupglobes pic.twitter.com/C5PYs5zFRr
— Judd Apatow 🇺🇦 (@JuddApatow) February 26, 2021
https://twitter.com/ava/status/1365392144458940416?s=21
A cosmetic fix isn’t enough. #TIMESUPGlobes #TIMESUP pic.twitter.com/hjebfXIRFU
— shonda rhimes (@shondarhimes) February 26, 2021
Additional celeb supporters who posted the hashtag on Twitter included Kerry Washington, Alyssa Milano, Amy Schumer and Sean Hayes.
On Thursday, the group pledged to diversify its membership in the future.
“We are fully committed to ensuring our membership is reflective of the communities around the world who love film, TV and the artists inspiring and educating them,” the organization said in a statement. “We understand that we need to bring in Black members, as well as members from other underrepresented backgrounds, and we will immediately work to implement an action plan to achieve these goals as soon as possible.”
An HFPA spokesman said Friday in a statement to TheWrap: “We welcome the opportunity to meet with groups like Time’s Up around this issue and be part of the solution. As we build our action plan, we welcome the opportunity to meet with prospective Black members who are interested in joining the HFPA…we absolutely welcome all journalists from all ethnic and cultural backgrounds based in Southern California who write for international media to apply.”
HFPA’s membership is majority female, and more than 35% of its members are from non-European countries around the world, the statement said.
In an interview with Variety, former HFPA board chair Meher Tatna said the organization had not had a Black member since at least 2002 when Tatna joined the group.
The campaign represents another blow to the HFPA before the Sunday awards ceremony on NBC. The Golden Globes have traditionally struggled with credibility when compared with the venerable Academy Awards. This year, the group took heat for overlooking films from Black directors in the best-picture categories. It also gave two major nominations to Sia’s “Music,” which scored 11% on Rotten Tomatoes and has drawn harsh criticism for its depiction of autism.