Former Golden Globes owners sue Penske Media alleging fraud in acquisition of awards show
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Members of the Hollywood Foreign Press, which founded Los Angeles and owned it for decades Golden Globe AwardsHe sued Penske Media Corporation and others, alleging they committed fraud to obtain valuable awards show money in order to create a monopoly in the entertainment industry.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in federal court in California, alleges that Penske Media and its owner, Jay Penske, colluded with holding company Eldridge Industries and its CEO. Todd Boehly fueling the backlash and boycott to devalue and buy out the Globes and deceive the HFPA into a sale they were forced to agree to.
“This case stems from a secret plan to fraudulently acquire a prestigious and valuable 80-year-old person. Golden Globe Awards“and exercising monopolistic control over Hollywood trades, awards and advertising markets violate state and federal unfair competition and antitrust laws,” the lawsuit states.
Boehly and Eldridge allegedly concealed Penske’s participation in the 2023 agreement from the HFPA board, and had they known about it, the board would never have approved it. Penske Media’s assets include Variety, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, Rolling Stone, Billboard, and Dick Clark Productions, which owns or produces several awards shows including the American Music Awards and is currently a partial owner of the Globes.
HFPA members were promised lifetime Golden Globe tickets and voting privileges, as well as other privileges that Penske gave up, citing unenforceable terms, the lawsuit says. And the buyers reportedly infiltrated HFPA leadership to make the deal happen.
A representative for the Golden Globes’ current owners said in a statement that the lawsuit “continues the absurdity and implausibility that the industry has come to expect from the defunct organization formerly known as the HFPA.”
Long cherished as Hollywood’s glitzy, champagne-filled opener to the awards season, the Golden Globes have had a tumultuous 2020s filled with lawsuits and public controversy. In 2021, a Los Angeles Times investigation found that the group had only one Black member.
This brought public outcry and a boycott, leading to NBC refusing to air the awards in 2022. The lawsuit alleges that Boehly and Penske “covertly incited” the boycott and used Penske’s publications to fuel it.
Following the acquisition and reorganization of the Globes in 2023, the show received widespread attention. New broadcast home on CBS.
Boehly is also a partial owner of sports brands. Chelsea F.C. And Los Angeles Dodgersnor was Eldridge Industries named as a defendant. The reasons were not immediately clear and the plaintiffs declined to comment. There was also no immediate response to an email requesting comment from Boehly and his company.
The lawsuit also alleges Penske and Boehly manipulated and abused California’s nonprofit laws. The Golden Globe Foundation, established as a continuation of the philanthropic arm of the HFPA, was reportedly used to lower the purchase price and functioned as a de facto extension of the nonprofit founded by Penske and Boehly, Globes LLC.
“This latest act of hypocrisy is a new low even for the HFPA,” the Golden Globe statement said in response. “The attempt by former HFPA members to secure Golden Globes tickets by leveraging the Golden Globe Foundation, an independent nonprofit organization, is an unfortunate distraction that inappropriately diverts resources from legitimate philanthropic purposes.”
The statement adds: “We are concerned that the HFPA, an organization widely criticized for ethical failures, lack of inclusivity, racism, and talent misconduct, continues to find attorneys willing to assert such illegitimate claims.”
The lawsuit seeks at least $150 million in damages and asks the court to cancel the agreement to terminate the HFPA.
