Two Hollywood Foreign Press Association members quit, calling Golden Globes Organisation 'a toxic place'

In a major move, two members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association left the group calling it a “toxic place for working journalists”. They announced Thursday that they were leaving the group claiming a majority of the Golden Globes organization’s members are resistant to efforts to improve diversity and ethical standards.

In a letter written to the HFPA board and obtained by the Los Angeles Times, Diederik van Hoogstraten of the Netherlands and Wenting Xu of China resigned their memberships. They slammed the effort by the organisation and called it “just a show for the public”.  

“The HFPA continues to accommodate a toxic environment that undermines professional journalism. The bullying of members by fellow members is left unquestioned and unpunished. The badgering of talent and publicists: ditto,” the pair wrote in the letter. 

They describe the culture of the HFPA as one of “insulation, silence, fear of retribution, self dealing, corruption and verbal abuse.” “We believe in a welcoming, healthy, respectful place where working international journalists in Los Angeles can develop and thrive. That place is not the HFPA. After we leave we plan to build a transparent, professional and inclusive organization for the current and next generations of reporters who simply want to work together, without the toxicity,” they wrote.

The HFPA came under fire this year following a series of reports that criticised them for not having a single Black member on board. Soon after, many celebs urged for the HFPA to change its ways. They released an extensive timeline for all changes -- expanding and diversifying membership, ethics and transparency measures and much more.