An ongoing legal battle between the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) and Dick Clark Productions is becoming personal as executives testify in the courtroom. L.A. Times reports one executive passing off HFPA as “somewhat [of] a joke” when testifying, making a snide reference to their corrupt past.
Their corruption was in fact the butt of a joke by the Golden Globes’ host Gervais, likening the HFPA to the gangs depicted in Boardwalk Empire. Gervais hosted for the second time; he is known for his jokes that are inciting, exempting no one.
The HFPA owns the Golden Globes’ show which will be worth $26M. The legal battle arose when Dick Clark Productions renewed a contract to continue airing the show indefinitely without HFPA’s consent in a deal worth $150M.
Dick Clark Productions, referred to as dcp, helps produce the event and purports to have followed the letter of a 1993 contract to renew their rights to broadcast with NBC. However, HFPA feels they have been undermined by dcp without conferring their decision making with them.
If dcp had involved HFPA in the contract deal, HFPA says they would have gone to the broadcast company who bid the highest for the show. Instead, they may have a sweetheart deal with NBC; dcp does not find any logic in running up a bid for the show. What’s interesting is the two have a close relationship yet are divergent in so many ways.
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