Hollywood Foreign Press Association to have 13 percent membership for black journalists

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) has issued a statement stating that 13 percent of its membership is going to be reserved for black journalists. The HFPA membership has been increased to a minimum of 100 members which means that there will be at least 13 Black members in the association, reported The Hollywood Reporter.

In its statement, HFPA affirmed that they are committed to make necessary changes in their organisation and the industry. The association also said that along with ensuring that at least 13 percent of members are black journalists, it is going to analyse its policies and practices, conduct interviews with its members to take their input regarding the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) plans. It will also share the yearly progress of the DEI goals of the association.

This announcement comes after over a hundred Hollywood publicists and PR firms sent a joint letter to HFPA’s chief operating officer Greg Goecker and board member Board Chair Meher Tatna. According to a report in the Deadline, the letter asked the association to make transformative changes and added that they would not be advocating their clients to participate in the events and interviews of HFPA till they are given a timeline of transformational changes.

Time’s Up charity also stood in solidarity with the publicists for calling out the HFPA to radically transform the Golden Globes. The statement released by its CEO Tina Tchen said that anything less than transparent and meaningful change will not be acceptable.

HFPA’s Golden Globe Awards was mired in controversy after it was discovered that there are no black members in its 87-member organisation and questions were raised about the financial and ethical behaviour. After these details were revealed in the Los Angeles Times, publicists issued this warning to the Association.