Tom Cruise will return the three Golden Globes he has won as the backlash against the scandal-ridden to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association continues to mount, TheWrap has learned.
Cruise won two Best Actor awards at the Golden Globes for his performances in “Born on the Fourth of July” in 1989 and “Jerry Maguire” in 1996, as well as a third for his supporting role in “Magnolia” in 1999.
His decision to return the awards comes less than an hour after NBC announced that it would not air the Golden Globes in 2022, though the network left open the possibility of airing the awards show once again in 2023. A rep for Cruise had no comment.
“We continue to believe that the HFPA is committed to meaningful reform. However, change of this magnitude takes time and work, and we feel strongly that the HFPA needs time to do it right,” NBC’s statement read. “As such, NBC will not air the 2022 Golden Globes.”
As the HFPA continues to pledge that it will reform itself and diversify its membership base, major studios like Netflix, Amazon, and WarnerMedia have notified the organization that they will not be involved with them until actual change is seen. Though the HFPA’s membership approved a proposed plan from its leaders that includes a goal of increasing its membership by 50% over the next two years, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos says that’s not enough.
“Today’s vote is an important first step,” Sarandos wrote in a letter to HFPA leaders on Thursday. “However, we don’t believe these proposed new policies — particularly around the size and speed of membership growth — will tackle the HFPA’s systemic diversity and inclusion challenges, or the lack of clear standards for how your members should operate. So we’re stopping any activities with your organization until more meaningful changes are made.”
In addition, five-time Golden Globe nominee Scarlett Johansson on Saturday called on Hollywood to “step back” from the HFPA “unless there is necessary fundamental reform.” The actress said she has shunned the group’s press conferences “for many years” after “facing sexist questions and remarks by certain HFPA members that bordered on sexual harassment.”
The HFPA has been under fire for not having any Black members as well as snubbing movies and TV shows with Black creators like “Bridgerton” and “Girls Trip” for both Globe nominations and press coverage. The group has also recently expelled former president Philip Berk after he shared a story from a right-wing website comparing Black Lives Matter to a “hate movement,” and its diversity efforts have hit speed bumps as USC professor Shaun Harper, who was hired as a diversity consultant, resigned from the position after he was confronted with details about the HFPA’s problems during a meeting with Time’s Up.
