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The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) is showing signs of life again, two years after the group reportedly dissolved and sold the Golden Globes to Penske Media and Dick Clark Productions, amid a flurry of scandals. The Ankler reports that the HFPA reunited, following years of inactivity, because the California State AG never finalized the transaction and shows no signs of doing so. The 60 or so remaining HFPA members recently met for the first time since the dissolution to vote on reconstituting the board, reinstating members, and revisiting the terms of the agreement.
In June 2023, the HFPA entered a deal to sell the Golden Globes to Penske Media Eldridge and Dick Clark Productions. Most believed that was the end of the HFPA, a beleaguered organization that dissolved in disgrace after decades of controversy culminating in Tom Cruise returning his Golden Globe. However, while its dissolution was a contingency for the sale, so too was approval from the California Attorney General’s office, which oversees the transactions of charitable organizations, and the HFPA was a non-profit. Since State AG Rob Bonta never finalized the sale, the remaining HFPA members consulted with some lawyers who advised them to reexamine the deal. The Ankler also suggests that the group wants to reexamine Penske’s relationship with Helen Hoehne, the former president of the HFPA. Hoehne reportedly pushed the board to sell to Penske and dissuaded them from pursuing another buyer. After the deal went through, she became the only HFPA member to become a full-time Penske employee. On Monday, the HFPA voted to remove her as president, with the results to be announced later this week.
In the meantime, it’s nice to know that like cockroaches and Cher, the HFPA will survive the nuclear holocaust. Considering how much Hollywood wants to forget that it ever committed to making the entertainment industry more representative of the world at large, the HFPA may want another crack at the industry’s number two award show. Perhaps they’ll even bring Ricky back.
