Time's Up criticises lack of Black members among Golden Globes voters

The Time’s Up movement on Friday launched a campaign criticising the lack of diversity in the organisation that hands out the Golden Globes for film and television.

Two days before the annual Golden Globes awards ceremony, Time’s Up posted banners on its Twitter account saying: “Hollywood Foreign Press Association: Not a Single Black Member Out of 87,” with the slogan “A cosmetic fix isn’t enough.”

The Golden Globes are chosen by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFP) and have grown to be one of the most popular award shows in the run-up to the annual Oscars.

Prominent Black celebrities Kerry Washington, Sterling K. Brown, Ava DuVernay and TV producer Shonda Rhimes swiftly threw their support behind the campaign, along with the likes of directors J.J. Abrams and Judd Apatow.

“Old news. New energy,” tweeted DuVernay, the director of civil rights movie Selma.

The campaign follows an investigation by the Los Angeles Times last week that noted there were currently no Black people among the 87-member group of foreign entertainment journalists who make up the HFPA.

The association said earlier this week that it was committed to diversifying its membership.

“We understand that we need to bring in Black members, as well as members from other underrepresented backgrounds, and we will immediately work to implement an action plan to achieve these goals as soon as possible,” the group said in a statement.

It added that 35% of its members are from non-European countries.

The HFPA also came under fire when the Golden Globe nominations failed to recognise some high-profile content by and about Black people, including movies like One Night in Miami and Da 5 Bloods, and the television drama I May Destroy You in the top categories.

The nominations did include multiple actors and directors of colour.

The HFPA did not immediately return a request for comment on the Time’s Up campaign.

Time’s Up was created in 2018 as a response to allegations of widespread sexual harassment in Hollywood and has since broadened its mission to fight inequality and injustice in the workplace.