Column: The Golden Globes' ethics are worse than ever, and no one seems to care

Less than 5 years ago, the Golden Globes were hanging by a thread.

In the aftermath of a Times probe that exposed the group’s self-dealing and ethical lapses and a implicit deficiency of Black practice among its membership, NBC pulled the ceremonial disconnected the aerial arsenic Netflix and Amazon Studios and much than 100 publicity agencies chopped ties with the embattled Hollywood Foreign Press Assn.

It got truthful atrocious that Tom Cruise sent backmost his 3 Golden Globes to the HFPA successful protest, an enactment not rather connected the level of Sean Penn’s 2022 menace to smelt his Oscars, though it grabbed headlines each the same.

But the Golden Globes person returned from the brink. The awards show, present tally by Penske Media Eldridge, owned by Jay Penske and Todd Boehly, announced its latest slate of movie and tv nominations Monday. And the coverage, led by commercialized publications owned by Penske, has contained small to nary notation of the show’s troubled past — oregon the controversies that proceed to swirl astir the ceremony, which volition again aerial successful January connected CBS arsenic portion of a five-year broadcast woody signed successful 2024.

So, yes, for each intents and purposes, the Golden Globes are back. But regarding ethical practices, today’s for-profit Globes whitethorn good beryllium worse than ever, crossing the enactment successful ways that are much egregious than the shady maneuverings that enactment the awards connected beingness enactment not truthful agelong ago.

As portion of the show’s rehabilitation, the Globes person expanded their voting excavation to 300 people, including Black voters. Fifty of the archetypal HFPA members were grandfathered into the radical and offered an yearly wage of $75,000. The Globes terminated that argumentation earlier this year, calling the determination “an acknowledgment that continuing to wage members could adhd to a cognition of bias successful voting.”

It’s hard not to beryllium skeptical of specified principled reasoning successful airy of much caller events. In May, the Globes announced a caller class for podcasts. A shortlist of 25 followed successful October, selected by audio analytics institution Luminate, which, surprise, is besides owned by Penske Media.

The eligible titles ranged from Dax Shepard’s “Armchair Expert” and Amy Poehler’s “Good Hang” to governmental programs similar “Pod Save America.” Conservative commentators Tucker Carlson, Joe Rogan, Megyn Kelly, Ben Shapiro, Theo Von and Candace Owens each made the shortlist. (Surprisingly, “New Heights,” the fashionable podcast hosted by Jason Kelce and his member Travis, the all-pro Kansas City Chiefs choky extremity engaged to vocalist Taylor Swift, was omitted. If the extremity successful creating the caller grant was to find a mode to coax Swift into attending the ceremony, idiosyncratic forgot to prevention her a seat.)

But the existent information down the podcast class became evident soon afterward: money. Per the Ankler, Penske-owned commercialized work Variety had its income squad transportation nominated podcasts an array of paid selling partnerships, including a $25,000 bargain to go a Podcasting FYC Fest supporting spouse and a $75,000 woody for the podcaster to beryllium fixed the Variety Creative Impact Award successful Podcasting.

With those prices, nary wonderment Luminate seems to person made popularity — and frankincense fiscal resources — a halfway criterion for eligibility. Plus, determination was the anticipation that immoderate of the 25 shortlisted shows would bargain FYC ads successful Variety and Penske’s different commercialized publications, the Hollywood Reporter and Deadline, each of which trust connected FYC dollars to support the lights on.

How galore bit? Shapiro is 1 salient name, buying ads connected Deadline and partnering with awards prediction website Gold Derby (yes, different Penske property) successful a paid video interrogation with his podcast team. (The stumping failed to wage disconnected successful the end: The last six nominees successful the class were “Armchair Expert,” “Call Her Daddy,” “Good Hang with Amy Poehler,” “The Mel Robbins Podcast,” “SmartLess” and “Up First.”)

“It’s conscionable a wealth grab,” says a seasoned awards consultant, who asked not beryllium identified successful bid to support manufacture relationships. “Everybody utilized to sound the Globes, but they were conscionable goofy. ... This is adjacent level.”

You privation adjacent level? How astir Penske offering 3 pairs of Golden Globes tickets for $70,000 each via a “concierge acquisition guide” successful its luxury manner mag Robb Report? After the New York Post reported these shenanigans, the connection disappeared connected the publication’s website.

Privately, determination has been pushback. Publicly, not truthful much. We unrecorded successful a civilization astatine ample wherever we’ve travel to judge flagrant corruption arsenic the norm, and Penske’s Globes are conscionable different example, skating done our corporate numbness.

The Golden Globes person agelong been excused for their scandals and idiosyncratic rank and, of course, mocked for their irrelevance. Ricky Gervais dismissed them arsenic “worthless,” calling the grant “a spot of metallic that immoderate bully aged confused journalists wanted to springiness you successful idiosyncratic truthful they could conscionable you and person a selfie with you.”

The rank has turned over, but the trophy’s worth is inactive inconsequential.

Yet the ceremonial keeps connected chugging along, remaining, successful the presumption of filmmakers down the benignant of grown-up movie fare that’s becoming an progressively endangered species, an indispensable selling platform. The January ceremonial brought successful 9.3 cardinal viewers — not Sunday Night Football numbers, but not shabby successful this fragmented media landscape.

For 1 night, the reasoning goes, movies similar “Marty Supreme,” “Hamnet” and “Sentimental Value” (among this year’s most-rewarded contenders) are celebrated and, perhaps, discovered. Studios inactive level their films’ enlargement into much theaters connected the play aft the Globes ceremony. If you grant it, the reasoning goes, radical volition come.

We each privation these movies to proceed to beryllium made. No uncertainty a just fig of moviegoers bought a summons to spot the Brazilian governmental play “I’m Still Here” aft its pb Fernanda Torres won a Globe earlier this year.

But adding categories for podcast and, 2 years ago, “cinematic and container bureau achievement” lone squeezes the magnitude of clip that the amusement tin spotlight the nominated films and their actors.

There’s a saying, archetypal coined by Maya Angelou, that’s been repopularized successful caller years: “If idiosyncratic shows you who they are, judge them.” The aforesaid could beryllium said of awards shows.

The Golden Globes whitethorn beryllium present to stay. But let’s halt pretending they’re immoderate amended than they were earlier the past scandal.