Golden Globes set to end $75,000 salaries for legacy voting members amid organizational changes

According to a report confirmed by Deadline, Golden Globes will be ending the $75,000 salary for its legacy voters.

This legacy voter's community includes 50 former members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, who will be affected as a result of this decision. The Golden Globes spokesperson confirmed that severance pay would be given to the members to meet "contractual obligations to the voters." The voters will also be offered an option to remain members of the voting community. However, there is uncertainty surrounding how many would actually make the choice.

The decision was announced by the organization's president, Helen Hoehne, over a short Zoom meeting on Friday.

When a 2023 corporate acquisition transformed the Golden Globes into a for-profit business controlled by Todd Boehly and Jay Penske's Penske Media Eldridge, which is under Penske Media Corporation, the $75,000 wages were outlined in a five-year agreement exclusive to former HFPA members who were retained.

Over the years, the Golden Globes, a venerable celebration of brilliance in cinema and television, has seen many ups and downs. The ceremony was restructured, and its broadcasters changed as a result of the numerous scandals it has encountered, ranging from racial injustice to claims of bribery and sexual assault.

Significant discussions among fans and industry insiders have been triggered by unexpected victories, snubs, and dubious category placements. Calls for change have even been sparked by some of these scandals, bringing attention to the voting procedure and decision-making standards.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which votes on the Oscars, had no Black members, according to a 2021 Los Angeles Times exposé. Additionally, several voters were accused of asking for favors from movie companies and celebrities and making racist and sexist statements.

Following the HFPA's implementation of changes, which included an amended code of conduct, bylaws, a restriction on gifts, and new travel regulations, NBC reinstated the Golden Globes broadcast in 2022 after this scandal.

After the Golden Globes' were acquired by Eldridge Industries, the parent company of Dick Clark Productions, the HFPA was dissolved in June 2023 in a significant organizational reorganization.

After problematic voters were kicked out, the membership grew from around 85 to 300, with 10% of the members being Black.

The scandal-plagued Globes was "a not-for-profit with no accountability and bad governance to an organization where there is employee-based accountability," according to Ted Boehly's prior statements.

Paying the voting members, he told the Los Angeles Times in 2023, would remove "conflicts of interest" related to the HFPA's ability to choose talented people for media jobs and prevent them from being influenced by "things other than just being authentic and having real integrity."