With a star-studded telecast and infamous open bar, the Golden Globes ceremony is traditionally the starting gun for awards season to begin in earnest — but not this year. After a multitude of scandals, the Globes have lost their prime placement on NBC, and much of the industry is simply pretending they don’t exist. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association is undeterred, however, so this Sunday the Globes will still take place, albeit in a strange, zombified form. Here’s everything you need to know about the 79th annual Golden Globes.
When are the 2022 Golden Globes taking place?
The Globes are scheduled for Sunday, January 9, at 6 p.m. PT, around the same time of year they usually happen. This is the only “usual” thing about them.
What form will the ceremony take?
On Tuesday evening, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced its plan for the 2022 Globes: no red carpet, no celebrity presenters, and an audience made up solely of HFPA members and recipients of their philanthropic efforts. There will also be no livestream, as Deadline reports that the ceremony will instead be “a private event,” with the winners announced in real time over social media.
Despite the lack of public audience, the HFPA says the event will spotlight the group’s charity work, as well as unveil its new collaboration with the NAACP to “increase diversity, equity, and inclusion across the global entertainment industry.” Essentially, it’s the “Sorry, I’m trying to remove it” of the Globes’ recent controversy, which is the main reason this year’s show is unlike previous years’: After a wave of terrible press, NBC booted the telecast off the airwaves, and much of the industry is engaged in a soft boycott. (The coming of the Omicron wave also provided a handy cover for the lack of star power at this year’s event.)
Will there be a host?
The Globes haven’t announced one yet, but again, given the soft boycott, it’s probably safe to assume no.
Remind me, why is everyone so mad at them?
There were three elements to the scandal, two of them public-facing, the other less so. The first was the revelation that the HFPA, which numbered around 100 members, had zero who were Black. The second was the aura of unprofessionalism and low-level corruption surrounding the group; you may recall the tidbit about lavish visits to the set of Emily in Paris. The third was more inside baseball and had a lot to do with press-conference credentialing — Richard Rushfield has the summary — but it basically boiled down to the HFPA demanding more access than the Hollywood Establishment felt the members’ individual standing as journalists merited.
Have they cleaned up their act?
As Golden Globe winner Annette Bening might say, yes and no. The HFPA implemented a new code of conduct with stricter ethical standards and inducted 21 new members in what the organization claims is the most diverse class in its history. However, it still lags behind its stated goal of having 13 percent Black membership by the 2022 ceremony. The overall response from the industry has been “Still not good enough, try again next year.”
Who’s up for a Globe this year?
Despite, or because of, the controversy, this year’s nominations were surprisingly good, with few of the bonkers picks we have come to expect. On the film side, Belfast and The Power of the Dog led the nominations, while Succession came out on top for TV. You can see the full list of nominees here.
Did any of this year’s nominees acknowledge their nominations?
Yes. A Vulture investigation found that 12 nominated actors had publicly recognized the Globes, and a follow-up email from the HFPA’s publicists noted that both Eugenio Derbez and Awkwafina had posted about noms for their respective films, CODA and Raya and the Last Dragon.
Is there any precedent for a ceremony-less Globes?
Also yes! The 2008 ceremony was canceled because of a writers’ strike, so the HFPA simply announced the winners at a press conference. It was still televised, but NBC didn’t have the exclusive, so the announcement also aired on E! and the TV Guide Network.
How will the results affect the Oscars race?
Unclear. The Globes function best as a televised dress rehearsal for the Oscars, and with no telecast, their picks should carry less influence. As an illustration, the 2008 Globes snubbed No Country for Old Men in both Best Drama and Best Director, but the film went on to clean up at the Oscars anyway.
How can I watch them?
Again: You can’t! Follow the Globes’ Twitter account, I guess.
