Los Angeles.- The owner of the Golden Globes, Penske Media, labeled the lawsuit filed by the former Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) on Tuesday as “absurd” and “irrational,” accusing the company that owns the awards of violating antitrust laws.
“The Golden Globes transaction closed more than three years ago and received all necessary approvals; any claim that it did not close, or that it could still be reversed, is, once again, categorically false,” stated a spokesperson for these awards, considered the prelude to the Oscars, in a statement accessed by EFE.
The HFPA’s lawsuit “is a regrettable distraction that improperly diverts resources from legitimate charitable causes”, he added.
“We are concerned that the HFPA, an organization so criticized for its ethical failures, its lack of inclusion, its racism, and its misconduct with talent, continues to find lawyers willing to push such illegitimate lawsuits,” the text stated.
The HFPA filed a lawsuit this Tuesday in a Los Angeles court accusing the current owner of the Golden Globes of violating federal and state antitrust laws through a clandestine plan to seize control of the awards.
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The lawsuit claims that the maneuver sought to “fraudulently acquire the prestigious and valuable Golden Globes, with 80 years of history, destroy its founder and former owner, the HFPA, and exercise monopolistic control over the Hollywood advertising, awards, and commerce markets.”
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The former awards organization is seeking at least $150 million in damages, as well as the annulment of the agreements that transferred ownership of the Golden Globes.
The HFPA operated for 80 years as a non-profit association of foreign journalists in charge of organizing one of Hollywood’s most prestigious awards, until a report published in February 2021 by the Los Angeles Times uncovered a serious lack of diversity in its membership.
The article revealed that the organization did not have any Black members, thus triggering an institutional crisis and a widespread boycott by advertisers and the entertainment industry.
This scandal led to the sale of the awards to Penske Media in 2023, and although the HFPA initiated a process to dissolve, the board of directors temporarily paused this move in May 2025 to investigate irregularities related to the transfer of commercial power of the Golden Globes.
Penske Media CEO Jay Penske is also the owner of the leading Hollywood trade publications, including Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, and Deadline.
