Members of the Hollywood Foreign Press, the former owner of the Golden Globe Awards, have filed a $150 million lawsuit against Penske Media Corporation and others, alleging a fraudulent scheme to acquire the prestigious awards show. The suit, filed in federal court in California, claims Penske Media and its owner, Jay Penske, colluded with Eldridge Industries and its CEO Todd Boehly to artificially devalue the Globes, manipulate industry backlash, and deceive the HFPA into a sale.
The lawsuit asserts that this "clandestine scheme" aimed to gain monopolistic control over Hollywood trades, awards, and advertising markets, violating state and federal antitrust laws. According to the filing, Eldridge and Penske concealed their involvement from the HFPA board, which would not have approved the 2023 deal had they known. Penske Media's portfolio includes major industry publications such as Variety, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, Rolling Stone, and Billboard, as well as Dick Clark Productions.
Plaintiffs allege that promises made to HFPA members, including lifetime Golden Globes tickets and voting privileges, were reneged upon by Penske through unworkable conditions. The suit also claims that Penske and Boehly infiltrated HFPA leadership to push the acquisition through. A representative for the current Golden Globes ownership dismissed the lawsuit as continuing "the absurdity and irrationality that the industry has come to expect from the defunct organization formerly known as the HFPA."
The Golden Globes have faced significant controversy in recent years, including a 2021 Los Angeles Times investigation that revealed the HFPA had only one Black member. This led to public outcry and a boycott, causing NBC to refuse to air the awards in 2022. The lawsuit contends that Boehly and Penske "surreptitiously instigated" this boycott and used Penske's publications to amplify it.
Following the 2023 acquisition and reorganization, the Golden Globe Awards secured a new broadcast home on CBS. Notably, Todd Boehly and Eldridge Industries were not named as defendants in the lawsuit, though the reasons were not immediately clear. Boehly, who also holds partial ownership in sports franchises like Chelsea FC and the Los Angeles Dodgers, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Further allegations in the lawsuit point to the manipulation of California's nonprofit laws. The suit claims the Golden Globe Foundation, established as the HFPA's philanthropic successor, was used to depress the acquisition price and now functions as an extension of the for-profit entity, Globes LLC, created by Penske and Boehly. The current Golden Globes ownership responded that the suit's attempt to leverage the Golden Globe Foundation is "an unfortunate distraction" that diverts resources from charitable causes and criticized the former HFPA's history of ethical failures, non-inclusivity, and misconduct.
The lawsuit seeks a minimum of $150 million in damages and requests the court to invalidate the agreement and dissolve the HFPA.