The Golden Globes are coming back for 2023, but will Hollywood and audiences return?

The 2022 Golden Globes were anything but glitzy. After a 2021 report from the Los Angeles Times revealed that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) included no Black journalists and demonstrated questionable ethics, powerhouse publicists, companies like Netflix and WarnerMedia, and many stars turned against the group. NBC canceled the 2022 awards show, and the HFPA resorted to presenting winners through Twitter.  

Today, nominations dropped for the 2023 Golden Globes. NBC will once again air the awards (and stream the ceremony on Peacock) as part of a “one-year agreement,” according to a statement from the HFPA, Dick Clark Productions, and the network. The red carpet will once again roll out at the Beverly Hilton.  

“We recognize the HFPA’s commitment to ongoing change and look forward to welcoming back the Golden Globes to NBC for its landmark 80th Anniversary in January 2023,” said Frances Berwick, chairman of entertainment networks for NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, in a statement.

The Globes are gearing up for a comeback, but can Hollywood be convinced to return to the “party of the year”? As award show ratings continue to flounder, and some top Oscar contenders are struggling to bring audiences to theaters (The Fabelmans, for instance, picked up five nominations but only made $5.7 million in four weeks), the lifespan of the Globes may depend on it.  

What happened since the 2022 awards?  

Following the controversy, the HFPA agreed to sell its Golden Globe assets to Eldridge Industries, a private company, in July 2022, which would then make the Golden Globes a private entity and separate from the HFPA’s philanthropic arm. In September, the HFPA announced that its voting body doubled, with 103 new voters, and thus increased the diversity. With these new members, the 200-person voting body is now 51.5% racially and ethnically diverse and 52% female. 

“Our work is not complete as we will continue to identify and recruit additional members and nonmember voters to expand, diversify, and strengthen the Golden Globe Awards while maintaining its unique international flavor,” says Neil Phillips, HFPA chief diversity officer, who was hired as the organization’s first in November 2021.  

What will happen in 2023?  

The 2023 Golden Globes will air live from the Beverly Hilton from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. PT on January 10. Jerrod Carmichael, a stand-up comedian and cocreator of The Carmichael Show, will host.  

Whether the Globes will be welcomed back into Hollywood’s good graces remains to be seen. Brendan Fraser, a Best Actor favorite for his performance in The Whale, says he will not attend the Golden Globes ceremony. This follows his allegation that former HFPA president Philip Berk groped him in 2003. Tom Cruise gave back his three Golden Globes in 2021 in protest, and yet his movie Top Gun: Maverick is up for two awards. Whether or not he will attend remains unclear.  

What is clear is that the HFPA still has controversy to overcome. Meanwhile, ratings for awards shows have faltered in recent years, and the pandemic undoubtedly took its toll. But even in 2020, before scandal arose, ratings for the Golden Globes were approaching an eight-year low. For the HFPA, the future of the broadcast could hang in the balance, and the stakes are high for the nominees as well, as many rely on the awards to help market the films.  

For now at least, the show is on.  

“The HFPA remains committed to important changes and supporting programs that prioritize diversity, inclusion, and transparency,” said HFPA president Helen Hoehne in a statement. “See you on January 10!”