Hours after NBC and Dick Clark Productions – the broadcasting network and producing partner of the Golden Globes – asked the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. to expel a former president via an email that Black Lives Matter called a “hate movement” is that member of the organization.
“Effective immediately, Phil Berk is no longer a member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn.,” The HFPA said on Tuesday.
The move follows a Times report that South African-born Phil Berk, a current member and eight-year-old HFPA president, sent an email on Sunday criticizing Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors. The report sparked a firestorm among many members of the organization, a group of international journalists that hands out the annual Golden Globes.
In the email, Berk shared an article that BLM called a “racist hate movement” and described Cullors as “the self-proclaimed” trained Marxist. ” It was sent to the association’s members, staff and general counsel and the group’s chief operations officer, Gregory Goeckner.
In an internal email from DCP, the company told employees: “We unequivocally condemn the actions and words of a member of the HFPA. We have called on the council to act quickly and decisively. We also indicated that this response should serve as an example of how they intend to deal with members’ behavior that contradicts their recent commitment to reform and improve racial equality. We’ve been working with the organization for months to guide them and push them towards meaningful change. While we had remained hopeful about progress, it reminds us that there are members who do not support this work. That is unacceptable. “
In a public statement, the company said, “We stand in solidarity with our black colleagues, artists, journalists and executives who have been hurt or overlooked by the HFPA. We are disgusted by the racist rhetoric spread by a member yesterday. We were encouraged by the very strong statements the HFPA made earlier about improving their organization around issues such as racial reform and justice. The actions and statements of this member are contrary to the direction the HFPA has publicly said it is taking. “
In private, on Monday evening, DCP sent the HFPA a letter asking for Berk’s immediate expulsion.
On Tuesday, NBC also released a statement reiterating DCP.
NBC strongly condemns Phil Berk’s actions and calls for his immediate expulsion. While we continue to wait for the details of HFPA’s upcoming reform plan, swift action on this front is a vital element for NBC to move forward with the HFPA and the Golden Globes. “
The statement could be read as saying NBC is laying down the hammer on the organization, according to someone familiar with the dynamics between NBC and the HFPA, but not authorized to speak in public.
Until now, DCP has remained silent, working behind the scenes with the HFPA and not speaking out publicly. We had to wait for the association to pass a series of reforms that were expected in early May, according to one concerned, but not authorized to speak. However, Berk’s email showed a “very blatant display of racism,” and the company felt it necessary to make a public statement, the person said.
Earlier, the HFPA board rejected Berk’s email in a statement stating that “the views in the article” shared by Berk, “do not in any way reflect the views and values of the HFPA. racism, discrimination and hate speech and finds such language and content unacceptable. “
The HFPA has come under pressure because it doesn’t have one Black members as well as for allegations of ethical and financial deficiencies raised in a Times investigation in the group.
Last month, the group behind the Golden Globe Awards promised “transformational change” and retained a strategic diversity advisor, Shaun Harper, a professor of racial, gender, and LGBTQ issues at USC’s Marshall School of Business, and a third-party law firm, Ropes & Gray, to review and review its policies and membership requirements and statutes.
The HFPA, which has contacted the National Assn. of Black Journalists and the NAACP, plans to announce a series of reforms on May 6.
Times staff writer Meg James contributed to this report.