Golden Globe Awards nominations announced amid controversy

Nominations for the 79th Annual Golden Globe Awards were announced Monday by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) in the midst of the controversy over its lack of diversity, reported Xinhua.

The nominations were announced by HFPA President Helen Hoehne and American rapper Snoop Dogg from the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California.

Kenneth Branagh's comedy drama "Belfast" and Jane Campion's Western drama film "The Power of the Dog" tied for the most nominations with seven each this year.

"Belfast" and "The Power of the Dog" will compete for Best Picture Drama against three other films -- Sian Heder's comedy film "CODA," Denis Villeneuve's epic science fiction film "Dune" and Reinaldo Marcus Green's biographical film "King Richard."

"Cyrano," "Don't Look Up," "Licorice Pizza," "Tick, Tick...BOOM!" and "West Side Story" were nominated for Best Comedy or Musical award.

Streaming giant Netflix dominated the film nominees with 17 nominations. Leading the pack on the television side with 15 nods is HBO and HBO Max.

The Golden Globes usually herald the quasi-official kick-off of the famed Hollywood award season and are often key indicators of who will be nominated for the upcoming Academy Awards, or the Oscars. But the HFPA, the group behind the Golden Globes, has been slammed by Hollywood and media for a lack of racial diversity within its membership body over the past year.

The HFPA is a non-profit organization of journalists who live in the United States and cover entertainment for foreign publications. The group reportedly hadn't had a Black member in nearly 20 years.

The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) announced in May that the television and radio network will not air 2022 Golden Globes to push the HFPA to carry out meaningful reform for quicker changes to boost diversity.

The beleaguered group announced in October to increase the membership by 20 percent, adding 21 new members, including six Black members.

"Over the last eight months, the HFPA has completely overhauled its bylaws, implementing sweeping changes from top to bottom that address ethics and code of conduct, diversity, equity and inclusion, governance, membership, and more," said the HFPA in a news release Monday, noting that the organization recently admitted their largest and most diverse class to date of 21 new members, all of whom are first-time Golden Globe voters.

"We've taken time to reflect on past missteps and reform our organization for the better," said the organization in an open letter to Hollywood actor and creators last week.

"We have worked tirelessly to not only adopt changes addressing policies and conduct, diversity and equity, and voting, but to implement these changes thoroughly and meaningfully," said the letter, adding that the group has made "great strides and are in it for the long run."

The winners of the 79th Annual Golden Globe Awards will be announced on Jan. 9, 2022.