The 2023 Golden Globe Awards are filled with dramas — and I’m not talking about “The Fabelmans” and “Tár.”
This time it’s real-life celebs who are causing a stir.
After the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (the loony international journalism group that puts on the show) was eviscerated in 2021 when it was revealed it didn’t have a single black voter out of 87 members, a horde of stars angrily denounced the awards show.
One returned his trophies, others called the organization corrupt and sexist, while another recently revisited his past allegations that a former HFPA member groped him years ago at an event.
NBC then canceled the 2022 broadcast, demanding “meaningful reforms,” and the list of winners was pathetically live-tweeted instead. Pretty tough to let bygones be bygones after all that.
The HFPA claims to have diversified its ranks over the past year. Still, thanks to outspoken, vengeful celebs, the usually fun and feisty telecast is going to get awwwwwkward.
If you thought Ricky Gervais’ barbs were uncomfortable, just you wait. Here are a few of the stars who are peeved at the Globes, which air Tuesday, Jan. 10 at 8 p.m. EST on NBC with host Jerrod Carmichael.
Tom Cruise
When your movie rakes in nearly $1.5 billion at the box office, you can engage in a bit of risky business. But even before the release of last year’s mega-hit “Top Gun: Maverick,” Cruise, 60, very publicly returned all three of his Globes in response to the HFPA’s diversity scandal. What’s cringe-y is that “Maverick,” which he also produced, is nominated for best drama at the 2023 Golden Globes. Cruise, however, was snubbed for best actor in a drama. Ouch. With that catty omission, getting one of the last major movie stars to show up to the Beverly Hilton Hotel seems like mission: impossible.
Brendan Fraser
The Golden Globes is an unfortunate first awards stop on Fraser’s comeback tour. In fact, the actor, who is nominated for best actor in a dramatic film for his acclaimed performance as a 600-pound recluse in “The Whale,” has already announced that he won’t be attending. That’s because in a 2018 interview with GQ, the 54-year-old actor accused former HFPA president Philip Berk of aggressively groping him at an event, and he partly credits the gross grab with his career downturn. Berk denied the account as “a total fabrication,” and claimed he only pinched Fraser’s butt. Whadda saint! Nonetheless, the man was kicked out of the HFPA in 2021 when he sent a mass email criticizing Black Lives Matter. When Fraser was asked by GQ this year whether or not he’d go to the Globes he said, “My mother didn’t raise a hypocrite.” If he wins, yikes.
Scarlett Johansson
The “Black Widow” star came out firing during the HFPA voter controversy with grievances of her own that had clearly been stewing for years — about sexism. “As an actor promoting a film, one is expected to participate in award seasons by attending press conferences as well as awards shows,” Johansson, 38, said in a 2021 statement. “In the past, this has often meant facing sexist questions and remarks by certain HFPA members that bordered on sexual harassment. It is the exact reason why I, for many years, refused to participate in their conferences.” Now, it’s hard to picture her participating in their awards show either.
Mark Ruffalo
Hulk angry! Months after winning a Globe in 2021 for best actor in a miniseries or TV movie, Ruffalo released a statement saying, “Honestly, as a recent winner of a Golden Globe, I cannot feel proud or happy about being a recipient of this award.” The 55-year-old actor found the HFPA’s planned diversity reforms lacking. “Now is the time to step up and right the wrongs of the past,” he said. The actor has not yet said if the Globes’ efforts eventually did the trick.
Ricky Gervais
The British comic, 61, hasn’t outright condemned the Globes, but he did say this year that he won’t return to host again. “At the moment, given I’ve done it five times, it got better and better for me — I enjoyed them all, but it got better — and I’m planning never to do it again,” he told LadBible. Gervais even said he asked the HFPA to not suggest it, because a huge amount of cash could sway him. “I’ve asked them not to ask me, because I can be persuaded, that’s true. You know, it’s not a principle.”