The Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced Thursday that it has hired a team of experts in diversity, ethics and workplace legal issues to help meet its goal of reforming the organization that votes on the Golden Globes.
Two outside law firms were hired on Monday to independently investigate reports made to the hotline that allows anyone to report incidents or complaints. Kendall Brill & Kelly specializes in workplace misconduct claims while Ramsey & Ehrlich specializes in whistleblower complaints and allegations of racial discrimination.
Last week, the HFPA hired global ethics consultants Convercent, which has begun work on the new hotline that is set to be in place by June 1.
The HFPA has also hired Leadership Lab International as the new diversity, equity and inclusion consultant.
The organization’s board said in a statement, “Our progress towards reform is continuing, as this week we have put two more key pieces in place that will help lead the transformational changes that we promised less than a month ago. We said on May 6th that we would move swiftly to show our commitment to reform and that we would regularly update the industry on our progress with our timeline.
“These announcements cover three key tenets of our reform plan — accountability, ethics and transparency, and inclusion. There is still more work to be done. As we continue to move forward with our timeline, we are confident that these changes will create a diverse, respectful, and transparent environment not only for new and old members of the HFPA, but for our partners in the industry who interact with the Association.”
Last week, the organization approved a Code of Professional and Ethical Conduct setting for the new standard to achieve its goals.
“As we finalize details on press conferences, gifts, and other policies, we will continue to add and update our Code,” the HFPA said.
NBC announced it would not air the Golden Globes ceremony in 2022 after the HFPA came under fire for a Los Angeles Times report that group engaged in questionable ethical practices and had no Black members.