'Award shows are stupid': Golden Globes 2021 hosts Amy Poehler, Tina Fey slam HFPA

After more than a five-year break, Amy Poehler and Tina Fey are back to their hosting duties at the 78th Golden Globes awards 2021. The Saturday Night Live alumni kicked off the show, with Amy at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles and Tina at 30 Rockefeller Center’s Rainbow room in New York City. The duo started the night with a monologue, addressing the “elephant in the room” and they both poked fun around the diversity controversy, the award show and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. 

During the event, Tina said, “Soul is a beautiful Pixar animated movie where a Black man's soul is knocked out of his body and into a cat. They responded to this because they have five cat members”. 

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Amy then went on to acknowledge, “This is probably something we should've told you guys about earlier. Everybody is understandably upset at the HFPA and their choices. Look, a lot of flashy garbage got nominated but that happens, okay? That's like their thing. But a number of Black actors and Black-led projects were overlooked”. 

TIna then added, "Look, we all know award shows are stupid... The point is, even with stupid things, inclusivity is important and there are no Black members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. I realize, HFPA you many not have gotten the memo because your workplace is the back booth of a French McDonald's, but you have to change that”. 

 It is worth noting that there are zero Black voters among the HFPA members for this award and Times’s Up was the first to point that out of 87 journalists who vote for the Golden Globes, not even one of them is Black. While the awards were celebrated with an outpour of love and support by fans, many celebrities also, however, slammed the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) for the lack of diversity in people who are part of the voting members. Actors including Jennifer Aniston, Sterling K Brown, Ava DuVernay and others shared the Times Up image and said that “HFPA needs to change in meaningful ways”.

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HFPA vows to diversify 

Meanwhile, the HFPA has already released a statement and said that they are committed to bringing in Black members and members from other underrepresented backgrounds. During the event, the leaders of the organisation vowed to diversify its ranks but laid out no specifics as to how its organisation would evolve. Helen Hoehne, the HFPA’s vice president said that just like in film and television, representation is vital and therefore, the organisation must have Black journalists. 

Meher Tatna, a former president of the organization, added that the HFPA “must also ensure everyone from all underrepresented communities gets a seat at our table, and we are going to make that happen”. 

“That means creating an environment where diverse membership is the norm and not the exception,” concluded current president Ali Sar, noting that the group looks forward “to a more inclusive future”. 

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