The Hollywood Foreign Press Assoc. has announced, via its board, that effective immediately, Phil Berk is no longer a member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
The move comes in the wake of a racist email that Berk, a former 8-term HFPA president, sent to members over the weekend. And it came just hours after NBC, in a statement, suggested that the network's telecast of the Golden Globes was in jeopardy if the HFPA didn't take swift action on Berk. "NBC strongly condemns Phil Berk's actions and is calling for his immediate expulsion", the network said. "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".
The HFPA is under increasing pressure from all of its dramatic steps to address its diversity crisis and the longstanding criticism that the organization is insular and opaque about its activities including the administration of the Golden Globe Awards. Adding to the urgency is reports that emerged Tuesday in the Los Angeles Times and Hollywood Reporter that two key advisors hired by the HFPA to guide the organization on diversity and inclusion matters — USC professor Shaun Harper and crisis management expert Judy Smith — have resigned from those roles.
