Critics Choice Chief Rips HFPA, Golden Globes In Message To Members Assuring, “Our Show…Will Be Quite Different”

Tom Tapp
·4 min read

Late Wednesday, Critics Choice Association chief Joey Berlin sent a missive to members of the organization that was, well, critical of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and its disastrous Golden Globe Awards telecast last weekend.

The Critics Choice Association has its own awards show on The CW this Sunday from 7-10 p.m. ET/PT. Berlin’s Wednesday message was, in part, to assure his organization’s members that “the 26th annual Critics Choice Awards show will be quite different than the Globes – just as our Critics Choice Association differs from the HFPA.”

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One can understand why.

Not only were last weekend’s Golden Globes the lowest-rated ever, they have some experts like Deadline’s own Joe Utichi wondering if the HFPA and its show are even fixable.

While the HFPA is comprised of a secret roster of 90-odd — very odd — overseas journalists, Berlin sad his organization is not only transparent, but diverse. “We proudly show our membership roster on our website, with photos, clearly demonstrating our diversity. There are Black and Asian and Latinx names and faces – men and women, young and old – representing virtually every state and major city in the US and Canada and some small towns, too.”

He also pointed out this year’s “very diverse slate of nominees,” a lack of which was another criticism leveled at the HFPA’s Globe noms this year.

What’s more, he wrote, “Our lineup of Presenters is even better than the Globes’.”

Here is Berlin’s missive in its entirety:

“We have always respected and admired the Golden Globes for hosting the Party of the Year, if not for the HFPA’s restrictive membership policies. Sadly, the COVID-19 pandemic prevented the HFPA from throwing that party this year and the resulting Golden Globes telecast on Sunday was ill-conceived and poorly received.

This Sunday it will be our turn. And I promise you, the 26th annual Critics Choice Awards show will be quite different than the Globes – just as our Critics Choice Association differs from the HFPA. We proudly show our membership roster on our website, with photos, clearly demonstrating our diversity. There are Black and Asian and Latinx names and faces – men and women, young and old – representing virtually every state and major city in the US and Canada and some small towns, too.

Our far flung membership results in a very diverse slate of nominees. Among the important movies and series that we nominated for Critics Choice Awards – and were largely overlooked by the HFPA – are “I May Destroy You,” “Da 5 Bloods,” “Judas and the Black Messiah,” “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” and “One Night in Miami.”

Like the Globes, we will have virtually all our nominated performers participating virtually in our show on Sunday night. Our lineup of Presenters is even better than the Globes, including Kevin Bacon, Angela Bassett, Mayim Bialik, Phoebe Dynevor, Morgan Freeman, Gal Gadot, Jim Gaffigan, Chris Hemsworth, Jameela Jamil, Eva Longoria, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jared Padalecki, Kyra Sedgwick, Yara Shahidi, Courtney B. Vance, John David Washington, and Catherine Zeta-Jones. But once the Critics Choice winner is announced and all the nominees have reacted, we will focus full-screen on the live acceptance speech, without awkwardly returning to the other nominees. And we will offer generous clips showcasing our nominated performances, a treat for audiences who may be inspired to discover movies and series they want to catch up on, without any cringe-worthy pledges from our executives to correct embarrassing organizational flaws.

Hosted for the third year in a row by Taye Diggs and with our special See Her Award going to Zendaya, we hope and expect that our 26th annual Critics Choice Awards show will be our best ever. And as the world starts to return to normal in the coming months, we will continue to shine our light on the best the creative community has to offer at our Critics Choice Real TV Awards, Critics Choice Documentary Awards, and Critics Choice Super Awards. Last month, we brought our 3rd annual Celebration of Black Cinema to a national audience for the first time, reinforcing our commitment to championing the broadest spectrum of popular entertainment.

We hope all CCA members will do what they can to their viewers, listeners, readers and followers that there’s going to be a very special awards show on The CW Sunday night – OUR show. This is the consensus of 400+ people who cover film and television every day for a living. The Critics Choice Awards show is culturally significant – and it’s going to be a lot of fun. We hope you’ll be very proud.”

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