It is the 80th anniversary of The Golden Globes. The award show, which was previously viewed as a precursor to the Oscars, is hoping to win back viewers’ trust and respect after years of scandal and dysfunction. The show was previously held yearly on Sunday night and broadcast by NBC. Due to the pandemic and ensuing scandals, The Golden Globes was pulled from the air for two years. The prodigal son of award shows returns tonight, Tuesday, January 10th 2023, making sure to not get in the way of NBC’s Sunday night football in case viewers aren’t quite ready to move past the Globes’ seedy past.

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The scandal that took down the Globes had been brewing for a long time, and in 2021, Hollywood finally couldn’t look the other way anymore. Following an exposé by The Los Angeles Times, published just days before the ceremony, the investigation revealed financial and ethical issues within The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the organization at the center of The Golden Globes, as well as the fact that the H.F.P.A. had no Black members among its 87 constituents.

What Changes Have the Golden Globes Made Since the 2021 Scandal? Will It Be Enough?

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In its two years of restructuring, The Golden Globes have come under new ownership, overhauled eligibility requirements, enforced a stricter code of conduct, recruited new members, and required all previous members to reapply. The organization added a chief diversity officer and now has six Black members. Additionally, it has added a little over 100 non-member voters, about a dozen of whom are Black.

The Golden Globes have also created new guidelines around gifting and travel and have instituted a ban on exclusive press conferences between talent and members. Todd Boehly, the interim chief executive, as of last summer, has also made a move to change the association into a for-profit company and formalize salaries, which helps negate the financial and ethical issue of a nonprofit paying off its members. After the change, Boehly is expected to disband the H.F.P.A. all together, which is a move that has been called for by many of Hollywood’s elite.

All of these reforms seem to have won the show back its former place at NBC, although not quite its former glory with football still holding the Sunday spotlight this year. Whether The Golden Globes will succeed in winning its viewership remains to be seen tonight, and as for Hollywood, it’s a mixed bag. Some celebrities have confirmed their attendance while others have confirmed the opposite. Brendan Fraser, who is nominated for best actor, will not be attending. Most A-listers have left it a guessing game, and viewers will have to wait to see if there is a large boycott planned or if The Golden Globes really has made a step towards securing its limelight again.