Former Golden Globes owners sue Penske Media alleging fraud in
acquisition of awards show
[July 29, 2026]
By ANDREW DALTON
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Members of the Hollywood Foreign Press, which founded
and for decades owned the Golden Globe Awards, have sued Penske Media
Corporation and others, alleging they engaged in fraud to acquire the
valuable awards show in an attempt to create an entertainment industry
monopoly.
The lawsuit filed in federal court in California on Tuesday alleges that
Penske Media and owner Jay Penske colluded with holding company Eldridge
Industries and its CEO Todd Boehly to fuel a backlash and boycott
against the Globes to devalue it and acquire it, and to deceive the HFPA
about a sale they were pressured into accepting.
“This case arises from a clandestine scheme to fraudulently acquire the
prestigious and valuable 80-year-old Golden Globe Awards,” the lawsuit
says, “and exert monopolistic control over the Hollywood trades, awards,
and advertising markets, all in violation of state and federal unfair
competition and antitrust laws.”
It alleges Boehly and Eldridge hid the involvement of Penske in the 2023
deal from the HFPA board, which never would have approved it if they had
known of it. Penske Media's assets include Variety, Deadline, The
Hollywood Reporter, Rolling Stone, Billboard and Dick Clark Productions,
which owns or produces several awards shows including the American Music
Awards and is now part owner of the Globes.
The lawsuit says the HFPA members were promised lifetime Golden Globes
tickets and voting privileges, along with other perks, which Penske
reneged on by attaching unworkable conditions. And it says the buyers
infiltrated the HFPA leadership to push through the deal.
A representative of the Golden Globes’ current owners said in a
statement that the lawsuit “continues the absurdity and irrationality
that the industry has come to expect from the defunct organization
formerly known as the HFPA.”
The Golden Globes, long treasured as a glitzy, champagne-soaked opening
of Hollywood's awards season, has had a turbulent 2020s full of lawsuits
and public controversies. In 2021, a Los Angeles Times investigation
revealed the group had only one Black member.
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In this Jan.. 6, 2009, file photo, Golden Globe statuettes are
seen during a news conference at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly
Hills, Calif. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, File)
 That brought a public outcry and
boycott that led to NBC refusing to air the awards in 2022. The
lawsuit claims that Boehly and Penske “surreptitiously instigated”
the boycott and used Penske's publications to fuel it.
After the 2023 acquisition and reorganization of the Globes, the
show got a new broadcast home on CBS.
Boehly, who is also part owner of sports franchises including
Chelsea FC and the Los Angeles Dodgers, was not named as a
defendant, nor was his Eldridge Industries. The reasons weren't
immediately clear, and the plaintiffs declined to comment. There was
also no immediate reply to an email seeking comment from Boehly and
his company.
The lawsuit also alleges that Penske and Boehly manipulated and
misused California's nonprofit laws. It says the Golden Globe
Foundation, established as the successor to the HFPA's philanthropic
arm, was used to drive down the price of the acquisition, and that
it functions a de facto extension of the for-profit entity
established by Penske and Boehly, Globes LLC.
“This latest act of duplicity is a new low, even for the HFPA,” the
Golden Globes statement said in response. “The attempt by former
HFPA members to leverage the Golden Globe Foundation, an independent
nonprofit, simply to secure Golden Globes tickets is an unfortunate
distraction that inappropriately diverts resources from legitimate
charitable causes.”
The statement adds, “We remain troubled that the HFPA, an
organization so widely criticized for ethical failures,
non-inclusivity, racism, and misconduct involving talent, continues
to find attorneys willing to push such illegitimate claims.”
The lawsuit seeks at least $150 million in damages and asks the
court to cancel the agreement to dissolve the HFPA.
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