Hollywood just can’t quit the Golden Globes

Since 1944, the Golden Globes have galivanted around American show business like the dumb Oscars. Under the stewardship of the quasi mysterious, bribe ready Hollywood Foreign Press Association, The Globes regularly courted controversy and stumbled towards its televised ceremonies, where stars get drunk and roasted.

For decades the HFPA ran roughshod over any assumed legitimacy, until the organization disintegrated into nothingness and relinquished the Globes due to the fallout from . Not that anyone really cared. The Golden Globes have always been the Oscars’ aggressive, intoxicated, and uncontrollable little cousin.

And despite its radioactive energy, Hollywood studios have rarely shied away from the allure of another award. There was a moment when it looked like the Globes were over. In 2021, around the time , the likes of , announcing to the world that the lack of Black representation in the organization was a non starter.

Amazon, Netflix, and WarnerMedia pulled out of the Globes, and the organization promised “transformational change.” The following year, Penske Media, the owner of , , and other entertainment industry outlets, assumed control of the show and returned the Globes to their rightful place as the season’s number two awards show.

Hollywood always comes back to the Globes. Whether studios are feigning outrage over the kind discrimination that they too engage in, or the Globes’ governing body becomes embroiled in a payola scandal, studios find too much value in putting “Golden Globe Winner” at the top of a movie poster. In 2013, .

No matter how much the Golden Globes embarrasses voters and recipients, the value of a name brand award that people recognize as having nominal importance is priceless. Three years after the controversy that cratered the organization, the words “Golden Globes Nominee” can easily be found at the top of For Your Consideration posters.

, those words mean too much to a movie’s marketing and audience awareness. Simply by existing, the Golden Globes signal to audiences that movie awards season has begun, alerting viewers to a short list of films that will likely earn Oscar nominations. In a way, the Golden Globes are free advertising for the Academy Awards.

There are only so many Oscars, and many of the movies that the Globes nominate, such as or , would never get within an inch of the Academy Awards. The Globes opens the door to those oddball, celebrity passion projects and star vehicles that promise famous attendees at the ceremony. Of course, in the past that spread opened the HFPA to scandal.

Studios and stars were . Nevertheless, the Golden Globes pressed on. It doesn’t matter what the Globes do, though, because their value to the broader system offers no downside to Hollywood. The Globes can withstand any controversy, infraction, or discrediting simply by moving on. It’s a brand so inherently toxic but also so invaluable that no one will just let them die.

By virtue of being an awards ceremony that has been televised since the 1960s, the Golden Globes will always have some meaning to studios. Whether their film is an Oscar hopeful or , there’s a path to awards gold. And until the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards levels up, the Golden Globes will remain a fixture of awards season, whether anyone respects it or not..