Critics Choice chief tears up HFPA and Golden Globes in message to members – Deadline

Late Wednesday, Critics Choice Association chief Joey Berlin sent a letter to members of the organization criticizing the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and its disastrous Golden Globe Awards which aired last weekend.

The Critics Choice Association has its own awards show on The CW this Sunday from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET / PT. Wednesday’s post from Berlin was intended, in part, to assure members of his organization that “the 26th annual Critics Choice Awards show will be very different from the Globes – just as our Critics Choice Association is different from the HFPA.

We can understand why.

Not only was last weekend’s Golden Globes the lowest-rated, but some pundits like Deadline’s Joe Utichi are wondering if the HFPA and its show are even fixable.

While the HFPA is made up of a secret list of 90 foreign journalists – very strange – Berlin regrets that its organization is not only transparent, but diverse. “We proudly display our membership list on our website, with photos, clearly demonstrating our diversity. There are black, Asian, and Latin names and faces – male and female, young and old – representing virtually every state and major city in the United States and Canada, as well as some small towns. “

He also pointed to “this year’s very diverse list of nominees,” the absence of which was another criticism of the HFPA Globe Names this year.

Plus, he wrote, “Our lineup of presenters is even better than the Globes.”

Here is the missive from Berlin in its entirety:

“We have always respected and admired the Golden Globes for hosting the Party of the Year, if not for the restrictive membership policies of the HFPA. Sadly, the COVID-19 pandemic prevented the HFPA from hosting the party this year, and the resulting Golden Globes telecast on Sunday was poorly designed and poorly received.

This Sunday, it will be our turn. And I promise you that the 26th Annual Critics Choice Awards will be very different from the Globes – just as our Critics Choice Association is different from the HFPA. We proudly display our membership list on our website, with photos, clearly demonstrating our diversity. There are black, Asian, and Latin names and faces – male and female, young and old – representing virtually every state and major city in the United States and Canada, as well as some small towns.

Our remote members result in a very diverse roster of candidates. Some of the major movies and series we’ve nominated for the Critics Choice Awards – and which have been largely overlooked by the HFPA – include “I May Destroy You”, “Da 5 Bloods”, “Judas and the Black Messiah”, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom ”and“ A Night in Miami. ”

Like the Globes, virtually all of our nominated artists will virtually participate in our Sunday night performance. Our lineup of presenters is even better than the Globes, including Kevin Bacon, Angela Bassett, Mayim Bialik, Phoebe Dynevor, Morgan Freeman, Gal Gadot, Jim Gaffigan, Chris Hemsworth, Jameela Jamil, Eva Longoria, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jared Padalecki , Kyra Sedgwick, Yara Shahidi, Courtney B. Vance, John David Washington and Catherine Zeta-Jones. But once the Critics Choice winner is announced and all of the nominees have responded, we’ll focus on the live acceptance speech full screen, without awkwardly returning to the other nominees. And we’ll feature generous clips showcasing our nominated performances, a treat for audiences who could be inspired to discover movies and series they want to catch up with, without any commendable commitment from our leaders to correct embarrassing organizational flaws.

Hosted for the third year in a row by Taye Diggs and with our special See Her Award given to Zendaya, we hope and anticipate that our 26th annual Critics Choice Awards show will be the best in our history. And as the world begins to get back to normal in the coming months, we’ll continue to highlight the best the creative community has to offer at our Critics Choice Real TV Awards, Critics Choice Documentary Awards, and Critics Choice Super Awards. Last month, we presented our 3rd Annual Black Cinema Celebration to a national audience for the first time, reinforcing our commitment to championing the widest range of popular entertainment.

We hope all ACC members will do what they can for their viewers, listeners, readers and followers that there will be a very special awards show on The CW on Sunday night – OUR show. This is the consensus of over 400 people who cover film and television every day for a living. The Critics Choice Awards show is culturally significant – and it’s going to be a lot of fun. We hope you will be very proud.