Sunday’s pared-down and glamour-free Golden Globes ceremony is still on — but in what form remains unknown.
Still hobbled by controversy and with no NBC broadcast this year, the HFPA and dick clark productions event is scrambling behind closed doors to figure out what actually will happen at the Beverly Hilton ballroom on January 9. As Variety reported today, this year’s Globes will lack any significant celebrity presence. That lack of much-desired A-list talent will see no celebrity presenters, nominees or even winners at the event.
The lack of Hollywood A-listers should come as no surprise with the Globes still boycotted for the most part by top PR reps. Although a number of studios and streamers have acquiesced to participation in this year’s Globes, despite much-heralded protests and condemnations of the HFPA previously, there still is a stink on the group and the Globes.
In fact, the 2002 Golden Globes won’t have media nor guests, with the exception of representatives of organizations that the HFPA has donated to or supported over the years, Deadline has learned. Individuals from those recipient groups are set for now to be ones announcing the nominees and winners on Sunday night. Otherwise, the only people attending will be HFPA executives and members. Everyone in attendance will be required to be vaccinated and boosted and present a recent negative Covid test.
Coming off a year of scandal and consistent stumbles, this year’s mini-Globes might or might not be livestreamed, we hear. Additionally, it is still under discussion whether winners will be announced by the Golden Globes’ social media feeds as they are revealed at the ceremony. Sources tell us that all remains under discussion among the HFPA’s upper echelon, mere days before the event.
One thing that does seem to be set in stone is that at some point during the roughly 90-minute ceremony, HFPA chief diversity officer Neil Phillips will take the stage to detail the organization’s efforts to be more inclusive in both its growing membership and its approach to Hollywood creatives and content. The five-year deal the HFPA recently inked with the NAACP perhaps will play a role in Phillips’ presentation.
Of course, with Covid cases breaking records daily due to the Omicron surge, this all could change at a moment’s notice. Already, others like the Critics Choice Awards — which also was set for Sunday — have hit pause on their ceremonies, and other live events like Sundance are in the process of reconsidering their options.
Representatives for the HFPA had no comment on the shape or scope of this weekend’s potential ceremony.