NBC Will Not Air The 2022 Golden Globes, HFPA Must Correct Their Issues

NBC announced that it will not broadcast the Hollywood Foreign Press Association's Golden Globes ceremony in 2022, but hope to bring it back in 2023.

As we earlier reported, the 87-member HFPA organization has been immersed in issues ranging from preferential treatment sought and received by its members to lack of racial representation in its ranks; there are no Black members.

Variety reports that Tom Cruise returned his three Globes awards for Born on the Fourth of July, Jerry Maguire and Magnolia today. That follows the boycotting of the HFPA by other prominent actors, including Scarlett Johansson and Mark Ruffalo.

NBC said it wants to give the HFPA time to resolve its problems and hopes it will be possible to broadcast the event in 2023, USA Today reports.

NBC said in the statement: "We continue to believe that the HFPA is committed to meaningful reform. However, change of this magnitude takes time and work, and we feel strongly that the HFPA needs time to do it right. As such, NBC will not air the 2022 Golden Globes. Assuming the organization executes on its plan, we are hopeful we will be in a position to air the show in January 2023."

The Golden Globes are the main source of income for the HFPA. Variety reported in 2018 that NBC was paying $60 million per year for broadcast rights in an eight-year pact that runs through 2026. It is unlikely the Golden Globes can move to another broadcast outlet under the terms of NBC's contract.

The Golden Globes was promoted as "Hollywood's biggest party," traditionally attracting a huge audience. However, as with many awards shows during the pandemic, a socially-distanced ceremony held in New York and Los Angeles on February 28 earlier this year attracted a record-low of 6.9 million viewers, bringing their ratings down 64% from the 18.4 million who watched the January awards show the year prior.