By Jake Coyle, Film Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --More than 100 Hollywood publicity firms that collectively represent the majority of stars in film and television said they will advise their clients to skip the Golden Globes if the Hollywood Foreign Press Association does not commit to "transformational change."
In a letter sent late Monday to the HFPA, the PR companies said the press association, which puts on the Globes, must reform or many of the industry's most prominent actors will boycott its events.
"We call on the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. to swiftly manifest profound and lasting change to eradicate the longstanding exclusionary ethos and pervasive practice of discriminatory behavior, unprofessionalism, ethical impropriety and alleged financial corruption endemic to the HFPA, funded by Dick Clark Productions, MRC, NBCUniversal and Comcast," the publicists wrote.
"To reflect how urgent and necessary we feel this work is, we cannot advocate for our clients to participate in HFPA events or interviews as we await your explicit plans and timeline for transformational change," they continued.
The message was the latest salvo in an ongoing scandal for the embattled Hollywood Foreign Press Association. In the days before last month's Globes, The Los Angeles Times reported that the group's 87 voting members doesn't include one Black person. Reports have also raised questions on the conduct and ethics of the HFPA, a group of largely lesser-known international writers who profit from the annual NBC telecast.
Pressure on the HFPA has continued, even if awards season has moved on to the Oscars. Time's Up, the advocacy organization that first debuted at the all-black 2018 Globes red carpet, has pressed the HFPA for more than statements. "We need to see specific details, timetables for change, and firm commitments," the group earlier said.
On Monday, Time's Up reiterated that position and endorsed the publicity firms' letter.
"We agree that anything less than transparent, meaningful change will no longer be acceptable. The entire world is watching," wrote Tina Tchen, president and chief executive of Time's Up.
HFPA members pledged the organization would reform during February's broadcast. In response to the publicity firms' letter, the press association responded with an outline of various initiatives its taking while accepting it had work to do.
"As a demonstration of our commitment, the board has unanimously approved a plan to increase membership to a minimum of 100 members this year, with a requirement that at least 13% of the membership be Black journalists," the group said.
"We should have done more, and sooner," acknowledged the press association.
Vatican, Microsoft Create AI-Generated St. Peter’s Basilica–For In-Person and Virtual Visitors
The Vatican and Microsoft on Monday unveiled a digital twin of St. Peter's Basilica that uses artificial intelligence to explore one of the world's most important monument's while helping the Holy See manage visitor flows and identify conservation problems. Using 400,000 high-resolution digital photographs, taken with drones, cameras and lasers over four weeks when no one was in the basilica, the digital replica is going online alongside two new on-site exhibits to provide visitors -- real and virtual -- with an interactive experience. "It is literally one of the most technologically advanced and sophisticated projects of its kind that has ever been pursued," Microsoft's president Brad Smith told a Vatican press conference. The project has been launched ahead of the Vatican's 2025 Jubilee, a holy year in which more than 30 million pilgrims are expected to pass through the basilica's Holy Door, on top of the 50,000 who visit on a normal day. "Everyone, really everyone should feel welcome in this great house," Pope Francis told Smith and members of the project's development teams at an audience Monday. The digital platform allows visitors to reserve entry times to the basilica, a novelty for one of the world's most visited monuments that regularly has an hours-long line of tourists waiting to get in. But the heart of the project is the creation of a digital twin of St. Peter's Basilica through advanced photogrammetry and artificial intelligence that allows anyone to "visit" the church and learn about its history. The ultra-precise 3D replica, developed in collaboration with digital preservation company Iconem, incorporates 22 petabytes of data — enough to fill five million DVDs — Smith said. The images have already identified structural... Read More