Ellen Pompeo is the most recent star who’s speaking up about the lack of diversity in the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
The 51-year-old Grey’s Anatomy actress took to Twitter on Saturday to share an open letter to the HFPA and “White Hollywood,” ahead of the 2021 Golden Globe Awards. Pompeo’s letter comes after a Los Angeles Times investigation revealed that the voting body has zero Black members among the 87 people involved. The HFPA board chair Meher Tatna even told Variety that the organization hasn’t had a Black member in at least 20 years!
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What the f**k?!
While the HFPA released a statement, claiming they plan to “immediately work to implement an action plan” to fix their diversity issue, Pompeo has a different solution in mind. In her post, the momma first wrote:
“I think we can all agree that the governing body of the Golden Globe Awards the Hollywood Foreign Press Association has a membership equity issue that is unacceptable. This is a very solvable problem. This is Hollywood, we are master problem solvers. There is a solution here and I have faith that we can find it.”
The Law & Order alum continued:
“What we can not do is leave this problem up to the Black community and all our communities of color to fix. This is not their problem, it’s ours.”
She then concluded her post, requesting:
“I would kindly ask, all my white colleagues in this industry, an industry that we love and has granted us enormous privilege…. to pull up, show up and get this issue resolved. Let’s show our black colleagues that we care and are willing to do the work to right the wrongs we have created. Now is not a time to be silent. We have a real action item here, let’s get it done.”
In case you missed it, the account, TimesUpNow, posted an image of a cracked Golden Globe statue to social media on Friday, captioning the post with “a cosmetic fix isn’t enough. #TimesUpGlobes.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CLxLEdwFi8C/
A post shared by TIME'S UP (@timesupnow)
Since many stars in Hollywood have spoken out about the HFPA’s lack of Black members, including Kerry Washington, Simon Pegg, DeVon Franklin, Jurnee Smollett, Amy Schumer, America Ferrera, Busy Phillips, Dakota Johnson, Laura Dern, Olivia Wilde, Alyssa Milano, and more. In an Instagram post, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants actor Amber Tamblyn specifically wrote:
“The complete exclusion of Black women and Black people in general from the entire membership of the HFPA which votes for The Golden Globes is unacceptable. We call on one of our country’s biggest and brightest award show ceremonies to ensure the future of the Golden Globes’ leadership represents the content, culture, and creative work of women of ALL kinds, not just white women, and of Black voices in general, both as nominees and as members instrumental in the nominating process. A cosmetic fix just isn’t enough. The world is watching.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CLzq3_9lDIr/
A post shared by Amber Tamblyn (@amberrosetamblyn)
Filmmaker Ava DuVernay captioned her post, “Old news. New energy,” while also retweeting a 2017 post from Jada Pinkett Smith, which read:
“I have so much to say on why Tiffany Haddish was not nominated for a Globe…but I won’t.”
Viola Davis, who is nominated for a Golden Globe for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, shared a quote from author Shannon L. Adler with her post:
“Telling the world you’re trying is not doing.”
The 55-year-old actress then added:
“The journey of a Black artist is littered with obstacles in creating, developing, and being acknowledged for our work. If we continue to keep silent, the younger generation of artists will have the exact same load to carry. No more excuses.”
Sterling K. Brown posted a different photo to Insta, while also writing a lengthy caption. In the thoughtful post, he first touched on the honor of being nominated for the prestigious award. But the This Is Us actor then dove headfirst into his thoughts about the lack of diversity within the voting body.
“I’m presenting at the telecast this weekend to honor all the story tellers, especially those of color, who have achieved this extraordinary moment in their careers… AND I have my criticisms of the #HFPA. 87 people wield a tremendous amount of power. For any governing body of a current Hollywood award show to have such a lack of voting representation illustrates a level of irresponsibility that should not be ignored.”
He continued:
“With the power you have HFPA, you simultaneously hold a responsibility to ensure your constituency is fully reflective of the world in which we live. When you know better, you must do better. And having a multitude of Black presenters does not absolve you of your lack of diversity. This is your moment to do the right thing. It is my hope that you will.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CLxih83BRrF/
A post shared by Sterling Brown (@sterlingkbrown)
One word: Powerful.
Since the backlash erupted, the HFPA has stated in response:
“We are fully committed to ensuring our membership is reflective of the communities around the world who love film, TV, and the artists inspiring and educating them. We understand that we need to bring in Black members, as well as members from other underrepresented backgrounds, and we will immediately work to implement an action plan to achieve these goals as soon as possible.”
We are curious to see if the organization will actually do anything. Let us know your thoughts in the comments (below), Perezcious readers!
The 2021 Golden Globes will air live on Sunday, Feb. 28 at 5 p.m. PT and 8 p.m. ET on NBC.
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