HFPA Promises to Increase Black Membership by ‘at Least 13%’

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association board, the group that’s behind the Golden Globe Awards, has pledged to add at least 13 Black journalists, Variety reports. The group has 87 members, none of which are black. 

The commitment comes on the heels of the release of an open letter from over 100 Hollywood public relations firms urging their clients not to participate in HFPA events until the organization made “profound and lasting change to eradicate the longstanding exclusionary ethos and pervasive practice of discriminatory behavior, unprofessionalism, ethical impropriety and alleged financial corruption endemic to the HFPA, funded by Dick Clark Productions, MRC, NBCUniversal and Comcast.”

“The Hollywood Foreign Press Association reiterates that we are committed to making necessary changes within our organization and in our industry as a whole,” the HFPA said in a statement released on Monday night. “We also acknowledge that we should have done more, and sooner. As a demonstration of our commitment, the board has unanimously approved a plan to increase membership to a minimum of 100 members this year, with a requirement that at least 13 percent of the membership be Black journalists.”

The 13% figure decided on by the HFPA corresponds to the percentage that Black people make up of the U.S. population.