2 HFPA Members Resign In Protest Of Corruption & Lack Of Diversity

Two Golden Globe Awards voters called the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) “toxic” and resigned their position as members of the organization on Thursday in protest.

“Insulation, silence, fear of retribution, self-dealing, corruption and verbal abuse are just a few ways to describe the current culture,” wrote Diederik van Hoogstraten from the Netherlands and Wenting Xu from China in their letter of resignation, which was sent to the HFPA’s leadership.

The two decided to resign at a crucial time for HFPA. The HFPA has promised to make changes after allegations of financial and ethical misconduct were made against the organization. Critics also cite the fact that none of its 85 members are black. In response, NBC canceled the 2022 Golden Globes broadcast.

HFPA members are scheduled to vote in July to codify new regulations, though people wonder whether the organization will be able to successfully make changes.

In April, Phil Berk – the former eight-term president of the organization – was expelled after he sent an email to all HFPA members saying that Black Lives Matter was “a racist hate movement.”

In May, media companies including Netflix, Amazon Studios, Warner Bros. and HBO cut ties with the organization and announced that they would not work with the HFPA  until significant changes were made.

“The majority of the membership resists transformative change, despite our lawyers and spokespersons suggesting otherwise publicly,” said van Hoogstraten and Xu in their letter. “Internal opposition to the status quo has been has been stifled, and critical voices such as ours have largely been ignored.”

The two said that they did not want to be members of the 78-year-old association, they also said that they believe the HFPA has potential and that they believe in their good intentions.

“Staying inside the association is no longer tenable for us,” they explained.

“At a time when the overwhelming majority of our members have chosen to be a part of change, it is disappointing that some members have decided to try and splinter our organization and sow division and doubt,” said the former members said.