On Jan. 10, stars from all over the globe sauntered down the red carpet, showing off their looks in front of the hundreds of flashing lights and cameras. Many of these stars hoped to add an award to their name. Although the physical award, a golden globe with a film strip wrapped around it, hasn’t changed, the reputation of the awards has made a difference over the past few years.

In total, the viewership of the Golden Globes reached 6.3 million viewers in 2023; however, this is a 68% drop from the 19.67 million in 2013. One of the reasons for this sudden drop has to do with the controversies stemming from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA).

In a Los Angeles Times article posted in February 2021, the HFPA was accused of self-dealing (trustees gaining personal money from company funds) racism, sexism and discrimination. This is demonstrated in their lack of diversity on their nomination lists, usually made public during the month of December.

Throughout 2021, the HFPA has released statements of defense, most notably during the 2021 Golden Globes, where former HFPA President Meher Tatna stated, “Everyone from all underrepresented communities [should] get a seat at our table, and we are going to make that happen.”

Over the months, the association has tried many ways to make changes — one of the first being to include more diversity. HFPA hired the University of South California’s Dr. Shaun Harper as a Strategic Diversity Advisor. Despite these efforts, no significant changes were made, and Dr. Harper resigned a month later.

Among these organizational changes, a Golden Globes viewer — CVHS sophomore Jonathan Curl — shares his thoughts.

“There was such a major uniform group, which was white people… I think there should be… another group of people to check their power.” Curl said.

Low tolerance for discrimination can be seen amongst many corporations including Netflix and WarnerMedia. In a statement, WarnerMedia said that “[l]asting and meaningful change to your membership goals could be achieved in under 18 months.”

Along with companies, many celebrities, including Tom Cruise and Scarlett Johansson, also boycotted the awards. “Fundamental reform” is how Johansson described the changes needed to be made in the Golden Globes.

Four months after the accusations towards the HFPA were made, NBC announced that they would not broadcast the Golden Globes Awards in 2022.

NBC stated, “[We] 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 award ceremony celebrating international film and television returned to NBC in 2023. However, viewership reached an all-time low with only 6.3 million viewers.

But the viewership wasn’t the only thing that didn’t fully show up: many celebrities who were highly anticipated on the red carpet didn’t show up at all. But was this just a simple no show, or did these celebrities not show up in protest against the awards and the HFPA?

Famous actors Brendan Fraser (“The Whale”), Scarlett Johansson (“Black Widow”) and Tom Cruise (“Top Gun”) confirmed their absence, referencing the boycotts.

But celebrities’ absences on the red carpet were not the only events happening in regard to the scandal. Back in 2022 when the Academy announced its nominees for Best Director, many people were quick to call out the Academy out on something audiences noticed: there were no female directors.

Even after all these stages of battle, one particular CVHS student is sure that the Academy can come back from this.

“I think that it’s definitely a step in the right direction. Again, the motives and then that change was made. The fact that the change was made after a boycott, which makes me question the motives of the change, and, but it’s definitely a step in the right direction,” Curl said.

Between not enough diversity, released statements, celebrity boycotts and broadcast cuts, the only way to tell if the Golden Globes and the HFPA will ever make a comeback is by time.