Long Time Golden Globes Member Ousted After Sharing Article Calling Black Lives Matter a ‘Racist Hate Movement’

Edited By: Fern Sidman

Philip Berk, a eight-term past president and 44-year member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the group that governs and votes for the annual Golden Globe Awards, has been expelled from its membership two days after emailing an article to his fellow members that described Black Lives Matter as a “racist hate movement”. Berk also took the opportunity to condemn its co-founder, Patrisse Cullors, for purchasing a home in Topanga Canyon, California, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

“Effective immediately, Phil Berk is no longer a member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association,” the HFPA’s board said in a statement released Tuesday afternoon. Fox News reported that the decision comes hours after NBC — which telecasts the Globes — condemned Berk’s actions and called for his “immediate expulsion.”

The show’s producer, Dick Clark Productions, also demanded Berk’s removal.

The Hollywood Reporter indicated that according to the Los Angeles Times, the newspaper received a copy of the e-mail chain that Berk, an 88-year-old from South Africa sent out about the BLM Movement.

Fox News reported that the Los Angeles Times said that Berk not only described the Black Lives Matter movement as a “racist hate movement” but said that Cullors was a “self-proclaimed Marxist.”

The Hollywood Reporter indicated that one HFPA member labeled Berk’s email as “racist,” another “vile” and a third called him “a thundering disgrace,” while the HFPA’s COO notified Berk that it was “not appropriate” behavior. Berk replied, “I only intended to illustrate the hypocrisy that engulfs us I forwarded it as a point of information I had no hidden agenda I now regret having sent it.”

This was, in effect, Berk’s third strike with the HFPA, according to the Hollywood Reporter. He previously took a leave of absence after writing a 2014 memoir, With Signs and Wonders, that did not reflect well on the organization, and was accused by the actor Brendan Fraser, in 2018, of groping Fraser’s buttocks at an event in 2003, as was reported by the Hollywood Reporter.

Fox News reported that the e-mail was sent to HFPA members, staff, the group’s general counsel and chief operating officer.

In a statement sent to the media on Monday evening, the HFPA said, “Since its inception, the HFPA has dedicated itself to bridging cultural connections and creating further understanding of different backgrounds through film and TV. The views expressed in the article circulated by Mr. Berk are those of the author of the article and do not — in any way shape or form – reflect the views and values of the HFPA. The HFPA condemns all forms of racism, discrimination and hate speech and finds such language and content unacceptable.”

The Los Angeles Times revealed in a report on February 21st that the HFPA currently has no black or brown people among its 87 voting members, as was reported by the Hollywood Reporter. The HFPA then retained the services of a diversity specialist and consulted with famed crisis management expert Judy Smith, who inspired Scandal’s Olivia Pope. (THR has learned that Smith has quit as a consultant.) The HFPA then vowed to announce substantial reforms by May 6, with Time’s Up and more than 100 PR firms threatening to cut off the HFPA altogether unless those reforms are game-changers.

Fox News reported that Shaun Harper, who was hired as a diversity strategist advisor by the HFPA last month, said in a resignation letter that he was initially optimistic when he joined the organization, but he felt compelled to step down after learning about the group’s “deep systemic and reputational challenges.”

“I no longer have confidence in our ability to collaboratively deliver the transformational change that the industry and people in it whom I deeply respect are demanding of you,” said Harper, who is a professor of racial, gender and LGBTQ issues at the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business.

“My serious, unwavering commitment to the racial and gender equity issues on which I work every day make it impossible for me to continue serving in a consulting capacity with the HFPA,” he continued.

On Tuesday, both NBC, which broadcasts the Golden Globe Awards, and MRC, which owns the company that produces it, Dick Clark Productions, issued statements demanding Berk’s expulsion from the group, according to the Hollywood Reporter.   “NBC strongly condemns Phil Berk’s actions and is calling for his immediate expulsion,” the network said in a statement. “While we continue to await the details of HFPA’s upcoming plan for reform, swift action on this front is an essential element for NBC to move forward with the HFPA and the Golden Globes.(Sources: Fox News & The Hollywood Reporter)