RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Over the last decade or so, the Penske Media Corporation has been on something of a buying spree. This has led to a present where PMC owns all four major entertainment industry trades ( Billboard , Variety , The Hollywood Reporter , and Deadline )—not to mention the ownership of Rolling Stone , IndieWire , Gold Derby , Vibe , ARTnews , Artforum , Bookforum , and a 50% stake in the South By Southwest festival. But while its buy-up of major publishing brands has created something of a monopoly on entertainment reporting, PMC’s interest in the awards space has been of much greater concern. After acquiring Dick Clark Productions in 2023, it became the owner of the American Music Awards, Streamy Awards, Academy of Country Music Awards, the Billboard Music Awards, and the Golden Globes, which PMC took following years of controversy under the previous owners , the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. The HFPA has long been unhappy with the sale and has sued Penske for monopolizing the industry and coordinating a campaign against the HFPA to make it vulnerable to acquisition.
HFPA attorneys filed an antitrust suit against Penske in California earlier today, alleging PMC was using its stranglehold to drive its price down, making it easier to acquire. In the suit, the HFPA claims Penske orchestrated a cancellation campaign against the HFPA by reporting on the organization’s lack of diversity, which really was quite poor, and encouraging an industry-wide boycott. As a result, the HFPA could not find a broadcast partner for the 79th Golden Globes , and Tom Cruise returned his Golden Globe. It’s worth noting that in 2022, multinational organizations were much more likely to feign concern over diversity and racism. Today, we presume, the HFPA would be given special commendation from the Trump administration for not welcoming a Black member in 20 years and not having a single Black journalist in its entire membership. But in the halcyon days of 2022, NBC didn’t want the heat.
Per Puck ‘s Matthew Belloni on X , the suit alleges PMC orchestrated “a corrupt scheme to fraudulently acquire the Golden Globe Awards, dismantled the 80-year-old organization that created them, and established monopolistic control over trade publications, entertainment awards, and For Your Consideration advertising.” From the outside, it’s pretty easy to see the HFPA’s case here —even if the reporting on their lack of diversity was vital at a time when Hollywood pretended to give a shit about that sort of thing. Still, when one company owns all the news, it’s very easy to cement a narrative. The HFPA seeks $150 million, the court reverses the acquisition of the Globes, and an apology for Jo Koy’s opening monologue in 2024.
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