The Observer (2022-01-09)

The Observer
12 09.01.22 News

Golden Globes lose their

shine as A-list stars shun

‘unethical’ ceremony

There’s no red carpet or

even any TV coverage –

so fa ns of awa rd sea son

glitz will have to wait

for the Baftas this year

Those shining orbs, the Golden Globe
awards , have well and truly lost their
lustre. Unloved and almost unat-
tended, the prize-giving ceremony
that once promised more Hollywood
entertainment value than any other,
with close ups of tipsy stars in
unguarded moments, will not even
be screened on network television.
Its demotion follows a series of rows

about its dubious practices and lack

of diversity.

Yet the event at the Beverly Hilton

hotel tonight comes as Hollywood

tries to cling on by its glistening fi n-

gernails to all the traditional allure

and hoopla of the awards season. After

two years of fi lm-making against a

background of Covid infections and

international restrictions, the indus-

try sorely needs to keep up the illu-

sion of glamour and fun that helps to

bankroll its biggest productions.

Despite efforts to reconfi gure the

nomination and voting processes

behind the awards and to emphasise

its philanthropic arm, the 2022 globes

are likely to make a fairly lame fi rst

outing, with no red carpet build up. As

the campaigner Melissa Silverstein,

founder and publisher of Women

in Hollywood , told the Observer this

weekend: “If an award is handed out

alone in a forest, with nobody look-

ing, did it really happen at all?”

Silverstein, who also directs the

Athena film festival , added: “The

Globes were always the awards

where the nominees would be a lit-

tle drunk by the time they got up for

their awards and people would turn

up to enjoy themselves, but they have

really fallen away this year. They can’t

get anybody to go to it.

“It is sad, but they deserved it

because they treated people horri-

bly. When women actors were put up

in front of the press in the past they

had to answer questions about their

babies and their personal lives. The

awards organisers felt they had all the

power. Shame on everybody though, I

guess, for letting it go on for so long.

I’m sure many nominees will be really

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Vanessa Thorpe

Arts and Media Correspondent