Golden Globes hopes to return strong after previous boycott

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A year after Hollywood boycotted the Golden Globes, Brad Pitt, Steven Spielberg and other big names are set to return as organizers try to restore the luster to what had been one of the biggest stops on the industry’s awards circuit.

Most of this year’s nominees are expected to attend the red-carpet ceremony in Beverly Hills on Tuesday, said Helen Hoehne, president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the group that hands out the Globes.

“We’ve gotten a really great response from the nominees,” said Hoehne, a German journalist elected in late 2021 to lead the group through diversity and ethics scandals. “We have very few not coming, so we are thrilled.”

She vowed the night would be “the party of the year.”

Now in their 80th year, the Globes had been known as a festive, alcohol-fueled ceremony that kicked off Hollywood’s awards season and helped propel nominees and winners in their quest for Academy Awards.

The future of the Globes was thrown into doubt after a 2021 Los Angeles Times investigation revealed the organization had no Black journalists in its ranks. Some members were accused of making sexist and racist remarks and soliciting favors from celebrities and movie studios.

Longtime broadcaster NBC dropped the 2022 telecast, but the Comcast Corp (CMCSA.O) network agreed to air the ceremony again this year after the HFPA instituted changes and new ethics rules. Among roughly 200 current voters, nearly 52% are racially and ethnically diverse, including 10% who are Black.