To protest against one of the biggest controversies in Hollywood, the lack of diversity within the Hollywood Foreign Press Association membership, Tom Cruise has returned three of his Golden Globe awards which he had earned for Born on the Fourth of July (best actor in drama category), Jerry Maguire (best actor in a comedy or musical category), and Magnolia (best-supporting actor category). The report was confirmed by Variety.
Tom Cruises firm stand against the decision of the committee, marks one of the high profile rejection against the HFPA after Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo had raised their voices against the organisation and called the industry to step back from the Golden Globes team until a more substantial reform in made within the board.
A few channels have also planned to cancel airing the prestigious award ceremony. Webstream platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Videos, and WarnerMedia have all announced from their social media accounts that they would boycott the HFPA, and NBCUniversal announced on Monday that NBC would not air the Globes in 2022.
Earlier, on May 3, the HFPA had announced that it is aiming to add 20 new members in 2021, with a goal to increase its full membership by 50% in 18 months, all with a focus on recruiting underrepresented groups. That plan was approved by the full membership. Condemnation arose when Los Angeles Times reported that there were no Black members in the HFPA team and later it was reported that HFPA did not have a single black representation since 2002.
As of now, neither the Golden Globe award committee nor HFPA has responded to any of the allegations. Earlier in 2015, 16, a similar controversy arose when The Oscar board members kept mainly white members in their team. Many had protested with the hashtag #OscarSoWhite and demanded equal representation in the creative platform. In the year 2016, Priyanka Chopra had then made her debut as a presenter at the Oscars.
