The Golden Globes, formerly the Golden Globe Awards, is an American awards season and award ceremony event, first held in 1944. Organized to honor excellence in international film and television, as well as amateur and professional artists and their work/craft, the ceremony is normally held every January, and has been a major part of the film industry's awards season, which culminates each year with the Academy Awards. The eligibility period for Golden Globes extends a whole calendar year under review. The Golden Globes were not televised from 1969 to 1972, in 1979 or in 2022. The 2008 ceremony was canceled due to the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike, while the 2022 ceremony was downsized to a non-televised gala due to a lack of broadcasters.
The ceremony was originally established and organized by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), a group representing international journalists covering the United States' entertainment industry. In 2022, amid criticism and boycotts of the HFPA over aspects of its operations (including a lack of diversity in its membership), interim CEO Todd Boehly announced that the Golden Globe Awards would be reformed as a for-profit entity under his investment firm Eldridge Industries (the parent company of Dick Clark Productions, which had produced the event since 1993), and that a new non-profit entity would be formed to continue the HFPA's philanthropic activities. The restructuring took effect on June 12, 2023, with the Golden Globes being acquired by Dick Clark Productions (via Golden Globes LLC), the HFPA's philanthropic activities transitioned to the Golden Globe Foundation and the HFPA disbanding and dissolving itself.
History
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) was founded in 1943 as the Hollywood Foreign Correspondent Association (HFCA) by Los Angeles–based foreign journalists seeking to develop a better-organized process of gathering and distributing cinema news to non-U.S. markets. One of the organization's first major endeavors was to establish a ceremony similar to the Academy Awards to honor film achievements. The 1st Golden Globe Awards ceremony, honoring the best achievements in 1943 filmmaking, was held on January 20, 1944, at the 20th Century-Fox studios. Subsequent ceremonies were held at various venues throughout the next decade, including the Beverly Hills Hotel and the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.
Foreign Press Association of Hollywood's Henrietta Awards
In 1950, some of the journalists in the HFCA broke away to form the Foreign Press Association of Hollywood (FPAH). It was the FPAH that instituted the Henrietta Award for World Film Favorite, which was subsequently given out by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the new name for the organization when the FPAH and HFCA merged in 1955, minus the "Henrietta" name through 1980 (for the 1979 movie year).
The FPAH held its first World Film Favorite Festival on January 27, 1951, giving out Henrietta Awards in various categories. The award, an angel above a globe raised on four tall pillars, was named for the president of the FPAH, Henry Gris. Winners of the Henrietta for World Film Favorite were Gregory Peck and Jane Wyman. At the FPAH's second World Film Favorite Festival, held on January 26, 1952, the Henrietta was a large statuette of a naked woman holding a flower. Based on an international poll of 900 newspapers, magazines and radio stations, Alan Ladd and Esther Williams were presented the gold Henrietta for World Favorites. while silver Henriettas for "Best Young Box Office Personality" were presented to Leslie Caron, Tony Curtis, John Derek, Mitzi Gaynor, Marilyn Monroe and Patrice Wymore. At the third festival held on February 14, 1953, John Wayne and Susan Hayward won the gold Henriettas.
The HFCA continued to hold their Golden Globe Awards. In 1952, the HFCA had established a special honorary award to recognize outstanding contributions to the entertainment industry. Recognizing its subject as an international figure within the entertainment industry, the first award was presented to director and producer Cecil B. DeMille. The official name of the award thus became the Cecil B. DeMille Award.
In January 1954, the two organizations held a joint ceremony, and the following year, they merged under the new Hollywood Foreign Press Association name. The Henrietta Award was terminated, but the HFPA instituted a special award called World Film Favorite, a Golden Globe surmounted by an angel. Similar to the Henrietta Award for World Film Favorite, the winner of the new HFPA Golden Globe was determined by a worldwide poll conducted by Reuters. This award, sometimes referred to as The Henrietta Award, was given out through 1980 for the 1979, movie year, when it was terminated.
Post-merger
The 13th Golden Globe Awards held in February 1956 saw the first Golden Globe in Television Achievement. The first three permanent television award categories, Best TV Series, Best TV Actor, and Best TV Actress, then made their debuts during the 19th Golden Globe Awards held in March 1962.
Beginning in 1963, the trophies commenced to be handed out by one or more persons referred to as "Miss Golden Globe", a title renamed on January 5, 2018, to "Golden Globe Ambassador". The holders of the position were, traditionally, the daughters or sometimes the sons of a celebrity, and as a point of pride, these often continued to be contested among celebrity parents.
In 2009, the Golden Globe statuette was redesigned (but not for the first time in its history). The New York firm Society Awards collaborated for a year with the HFPA to produce a statuette that included a unique marble and enhanced the statuette's quality and gold content. It was unveiled at a press conference at the Beverly Hilton prior to the show.
The Carol Burnett Award was created as a television counterpart to the Cecil B. DeMille Award, named after its first recipient in 2019, actress and comedian Carol Burnett.
Revenues from award broadcast
Revenues generated from the annual ceremony have enabled the HFPA to donate millions of dollars to entertainment-related charities, as well as funding scholarships and other programs for future film and television professionals. The most prominent beneficiary is the Young Artist Awards, presented annually by the Young Artist Foundation, established in 1978 by Hollywood Foreign Press member Maureen Dragone, to recognize and award excellence of young Hollywood performers under the age of 21 and to provide scholarships for young artists who may be physically or financially challenged.
2022 boycott, acquisition by Dick Clark Productions
In 2021, the HFPA faced criticism for the lack of Black representation among its members. On May 3, 2021, the HFPA announced plans for a reform package, including a 50% increase in members over the next 18 months, as well as new positions, term limits, and practices to improve its accountability. However, Time's Up and a group of 100 PR firms criticized the lack of given timelines for filling some of the new management positions, arguing that they would not be completed soon enough to have any material impact on the cycle of the upcoming 79th Golden Globe Awards in January 2022. Time's Up further argued that the package "largely contains no specifics" nor "commitments to real accountability or change".
On May 7, 2021, both Amazon Studios and Netflix announced that they would cease their activities with the HFPA until sufficient actions on reforms were made. Other media companies followed suit on May 10, including NBC, which announced that it would not televise the 79th Golden Globe Awards, but that it would be open to televising the ceremony in 2023 if the HFPA were successful in its efforts to reform. WarnerMedia also boycotted the HFPA, while Tom Cruise returned the awards he had won for Born on the Fourth of July, Jerry Maguire and Magnolia in solidarity.
Following these events, the HFPA released a timeline for its reforms, which would see the process completed by the week of August 2. On October 1, the HFPA released a list of 21 new members that it had recruited under these reforms, and named Todd Boehly (owner of ceremony producer Dick Clark Productions) as its "interim CEO". The HFPA then announced on October 15 that it still planned to hold the 79th Golden Globe Awards on January 9, 2022, with or without another media partner. With the televised absence of the Golden Globe Awards from NBC, the Critics Choice Association attempted to shift their Critics' Choice Movie Awards ceremony up a week to fill the void and increase their overall prestige, though it was later delayed due to SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant. The 79th ceremony was conducted as a non-televised, private presentation, with limited guests (particularly beneficiaries of the HFPA's philanthropic activities) and strict COVID-19 protocol due to Omicron variant.
In July 2022, the HFPA approved a major restructuring, under which Boehly would establish a for-profit entity via his holding company Eldridge Industries (owner of Dick Clark Productions—which has produced the Golden Globes' telecast since 1993, as well as the entertainment trade publication The Hollywood Reporter) that will hold the Golden Globe Awards' intellectual property and oversee the "professionalization and modernization" of the ceremony, including "[increasing] the size and diversity of the available voters for the annual awards". The HFPA's philanthropic activities were to continue separately as a non-profit entity. NBC subsequently agreed to a one-year contract to air the 80th Golden Globe Awards on January 10, 2023, which were moved to a Tuesday evening to avoid conflicting with the National Football League (whose regular season was recently extended into January) and the College Football Playoff National Championship (which was being hosted at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood).
On June 12, 2023, the Golden Globe Awards' assets and intellectual property were acquired by DCP (whose ownership includes Penske Media Corporation, owner of fellow entertainment publications Deadline Hollywood and Variety) and Eldridge; the financial details of the purchase were not disclosed. The HFPA's philanthropic activities were transferred to a new entity known as the Golden Globe Foundation.
At the 83rd Golden Globes in 2026, the Golden Globes introduced a new award for Best Podcast, with organizers citing the "seismic" growth of the podcast medium. The inaugural award was won by Amy Poehler for her weekly show, Good Hang with Amy Poehler.
Subsequent lawsuit
In July 2026, DCP co-owner Penske Media, Jay Penske, and Golden Globe Foundation CEO Gregory Goeckner were sued by the HFPA over the sale of the Golden Globes to DCP. The suit alleges that Penske had colluded with Boehly to orchestrate the acquisition of the Golden Globe Awards as part of a scheme to "exert monopolistic control over the Hollywood trades, awards and advertising markets" and "control the entertainment news disseminated to the general public". The suit cited that the horizontal and vertical integration of the Golden Globe Awards with entertainment trade publications (such as The Hollywood Reporter, Variety and Deadline Hollywood) and advertising sales across these properties (such as "for your consideration" campaigns) gave the combined company undue influence over the awards system in violation of California antitrust law. The suit also alleged that the sale process (which was described as a "sham") was unfairly biased towards Eldridge. The suit seeks $150 million in damages, and the unwinding of the agreement that transferred ownership of the Golden Globes to DCP.
In October 2026, Penske Media sued the Golden Globe Foundation, alleging that the company was using the "Golden Globes" name in means beyond what were originally negotiated with the new ownership.
Rules
Eligibility
The qualifying eligibility period for all nominations is the calendar year from January 1 through December 31.
Voice-over performances and cameo appearances in which persons play themselves are not eligible from all film and TV acting categories.
Films must be at least 70 minutes and released for at least a seven-day run in the Greater Los Angeles area, starting prior to midnight on December 31. Films can be released in theaters, on pay-per-view, or by digital delivery.
For the Motion Picture – Non-English Language category, films do not need to be released in the United States. At least 51 percent of the dialogue must be in a language other than English, and they must first be released in their country of origin during a 14-month period from November 1 to December 31 prior to the Awards. However, if a film was not released in its country of origin due to censorship, it can still qualify if it had a one-week release in the United States during the qualifying calendar year. There is no limit to the number of submitted films from a given country.
A TV program must air in the United States between the prime time hours of 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. (or 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. on Sundays). A show can air on broadcast television, on basic or premium cable, or by digital delivery; it does not qualify if it is only on pay-per-view or via digital delivery of film. Also, a TV show must either be made in the United States or be a co-production financially and creatively between an American and a foreign production company. Furthermore, reality and non-scripted shows are disqualified.