Critics Choice CEO Slams HFPA as ‘Hostile and Desperate’ Over Scheduling Golden Globes on the Same Day
Update, 9:30 p.m. ET: The Critics Choice Association swiftly responded to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s announcement that it will present the next Golden Globe Awards on January 9 — the same day as the Critics Choice Awards.
“To announce that they intend to reveal winners on January 9 seems like a hostile and desperate act,” CCA CEO Joey Berlin told IndieWire.
Berlin pointed out that his organization in May announced the Critics Choice Awards would be held on that date, which as was the case with the last two pre-pandemic shows, are Sundays in the second week in January. The 2019 and 2020 Golden Globes were both held the week after.
Amid backlash against the HFPA, NBC announced in May that it would not broadcast the 2022 Globes. Some suggested that the Critics Choice Awards could serve as a kind of replacement for the Globes.
“For the HFPA to jump on our date is an unprecedented act of spite that demonstrates a complete lack of concern for the studios, networks and talent that count on the awards eco-system to support their finest achievements and help them find their audiences. I trust that the many publicity and marketing professionals who have rallied behind the CCA and so strongly support our awards shows and our Celebration of Black Cinema & Television and our Celebration of Latino Cinema will be just as flabbergasted as I am by this brazen announcement by the scandal-ridden HFPA.
“The CCA is sympathetic towards those HFPA members who are legitimate journalists and have been hurt so badly by the group’s implosion, and especially to the entertainment journalists who were unreasonably kept out of the HFPA, which is why we have opened up an International Branch of the CCA to provide a way to accredit working members of the foreign press. But today’s announcement is further evidence that the HFPA has a long way to go to shake its well-earned reputation as a disreputable and tawdry group,” Berlin wrote.
Earlier: The beleaguered Hollywood Foreign Press Association is marching ahead with its 2022 ceremony, telecast or no telecast. The HFPA will present its 79th annual Golden Globe Awards on January 9, even after the voting body’s longtime broadcast partner NBC dropped out of the 2022 telecast following scandals dating back to a February 2021 Los Angeles Times article.
Coincidentally or not, that January 9 date is the same as the 27th annual Critics Choice Awards, which will be broadcast on The CW.
The ceremony date for the Globes was unveiled Friday along with an award calendar for submission deadlines across various categories. Film and television nominations will be revealed on December 13, while the deadline for submissions is November 15.
It was first announced on October 11 that the Golden Globes would blaze ahead without NBC. “The HFPA plans to recognize the performances of 2021 to celebrate the great work of the industry this past year at the 79th Annual Golden Globes,” an unnamed source told Variety in a statement.
It remains unclear who exactly will want to associate with the Globes in terms of Hollywood talent. Publicists and their clients have increasingly distanced themselves from the HFPA, from Scarlett Johansson to Tom Cruise, who sent his three Golden Globes back to the HFPA. The organization has undergone several reforms, including adding 21 new members, banning all members from receiving gifts (including trips from studios and talent), and announcing new bylaws. But that makeover may not be enough for Hollywood’s top brass.
“We continue to believe that the HFPA is committed to meaningful reform,” NBC said in a statement in May. “However, change of this magnitude takes time and work, and we feel strongly that the HFPA needs time to do it right. As such, NBC will not air the 2022 Golden Globes. Assuming the organization executes on its plan, we are hopeful we will be in a position to air the show in January 2023.”
Below is the awards timeline for the upcoming Golden Globes.
October 18: Submission website for 2022 Golden Globe Motion Picture and Television entries now open
November 15: Deadline for submission of Golden Globe Motion Picture and Television entry forms
November 22: Deadline for Television nomination ballots to be sent to all HFPA members by Ernst & Young
November 29: Deadline for receipt of Television nomination ballots by Ernst & Young, at 5:00 p.m. PT
November 30: Deadline for Motion Picture nomination ballots to be sent to all HFPA members by Ernst & Young
December 8: Final screening date for Motion Pictures
December 9: Final date for Motion Picture press conferences
December 10: Deadline for receipt of Motion Picture nomination ballots by Ernst & Young, at 12:00 p.m. (noon)
December 13: Announcement of nominations for the 79th Annual Golden Globe Awards, at 5:00 a.m. PT
December 17: Final ballots sent to all HFPA members by Ernst & Young
January 3: Deadline for receipt of final ballots by Ernst & Young, at 5:00 p.m. PT
January 9: Presentation of the 79th Annual Golden Globe Awards
Disclosure: IndieWire parent company PMC is a partner with MRC in the PMRC venture that owns Billboard, Vibe, and The Hollywood Reporter. MRC produces the Golden Globe Awards through its MRC Live and Alternative division.
