The Golden Globes, Hollywood’s most problematic award show, is officially uncanceled
After a fierce controversy and a year off the air, the Golden Globes will return to NBC in January 2023
Well folks, it’s official. In a year when televised award shows have fallen so out of favor that not even Jennifer Coolidge could pull in the ratings (Jennifer Coolidge! She cha-cha’d to her playout music, and most of you people missed it!), NBC has decided to go full dark side and revive the worst of them all.
Back in August, we reported that an agreement between NBC and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) to revive the HFPA’s years-long scheme to squeeze money and gifts out of Hollywood The Golden Globe Awards was “in the works.” Today, the news was confirmed, per Deadline. Get ready to watch a bunch of celebrities get drunk on fancy champagne (allegedly) paid for by studio scam money on Tuesday, January 10, if that’s your thing. And, because streaming is king now, you can now watch either on the live broadcast or simultaneously on Peacock—more screens than ever before!
In 2022, NBC canceled its broadcast of the Golden Globes amidst a roiling controversy surrounding the HFPA’s financial and ethical practices, including a(n eventually thrown-out) lawsuit essentially alleging that HFPA members were bribing studio execs with marketing opportunities in return for fancy handouts, and a report revealing that there was not a single Black person among the 87 members who voted for the awards.
This is only a one-year deal from NBC, which the company says will allow the HFPA “to explore new opportunities for domestic and global distribution across a variety of platforms in the future,” per The New York Times. Still, while this sounds a whole lot like the network is trying to slow-fade itself from a toxic ex, the show apparently must go on, at least for now.
“We recognize the HFPA’s commitment to ongoing change and look forward to welcoming back the Golden Globes to NBC for its landmark 80th Anniversary in January 2023,” said Frances Berwick, Chairman of Entertainment Networks at NBC, in a statement.
To its credit, the HFPA has made some quantifiable developments. The organization has hired a new president, moved away from its tax-exempt status, and has increased the size of its organization to 108 members, six of whom are Black. They have also added 103 nonmember voters to the pool for this year, “a dozen or so of whom are Black,” according to The New York Times. That’s progress… we guess?