Hours before the Hollywood Foreign Press Association began their (formerly) champagne fueled fete, the Golden Globes, Ava DuVernay tweeted her disappointment—along with several Black women in Hollywood—after the Times Up investigation revealed there are no Black members within the small but mighty international journalist organization.
The award-winning director was tapped as the presenter for Hamilton’s nomination for best picture, musical or comedy (it lost to Borat Subsequent Moviefilm). She remained committed to be part of the show in appreciation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s artistry. But in a statement DuVernay wrote: “To be clear, pressure applied to the Globes and its partners from now on isn’t about validation or shiny things from this particular group.”
She continued: “The truth that’s not often discussed is that awards play a part in the economic reality of Black filmmakers, artists of color and women creators in this business. Unfortunately, these shiny things matter to those who finance, greenlight, produce, distribute and market our projects. Therefore, everyone must have balanced access and consideration so that the playing field can be more equitable for artists of all kinds, colors and cultures.”
During the broadcast one of HFPA’s members acknowledged, “We have our own work to do.” Two days earlier the HFPA did respond with this statement to the Times Up investigation:
Although there’s no diversity within the HFPA, these Black actors were named winners during the Golden Globe’s hybrid ceremony: Andra Day, Daniel Kaluuya, John Boyega, Chadwick Boseman; two of the creatives behind Soul, Kemp Powers and Jon Batiste, were also named winners when the film won best motion picture, animated and best original score.