Tom Cruise Has Given Back His Three Golden Globe Awards In Protest Of The HFPA

Tom Cruise hasn’t had much luck with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences; he’s a three-time Oscar nominee and zero-time winner. But, Tom has done much better with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. He’s a seven-time Golden Globe Award nominee and three-time winner. And before today, you could probably assume those three Golden Globe Awards held a very special place on his trophy shelf. It’s pretty clear the HFPA loves Tom Cruise. They nominated him for The Last Samurai, what more proof do you need? But right now, the love isn’t mutual. Tom Cruise has joined Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Netflix, NBC, and many Hollywood publicists, by publicly dragging the HFPA and their ability to do the absolute least when it comes to diversity. Although he did it without saying a word. Tom simply returned his awards.

Deadline reports that the HFPA just signed for a package, and inside were Tom’s three Golden Globe awards: his Best Actor Motion Picture Drama award for Born on the Fourth of July, the Best Actor Motion Picture Comedy for Jerry Maguire, and the Best Supporting Actor for Magnolia. There’s been no official statement from Tom Cruise himself, which kind of makes it sound like he wanted to do it without much publicity. Was it all for show in a Scientology-sanctioned attempt to appear down to earth and relatable? Who is to say. But if Tom is still feeling like he wants to return anything, maybe he can help return Shelly Miscavige to the outside world? Just a thought!

Deadline adds that it’s likely this could be the first of many Golden Globe Award returns. For example, when Mark Ruffalo recently spoke out against the HFPA, he said he could not feel “proud of happy” about his recent Best Actor in a Mini-Series win for I Know This Much Is True. So Mark might be bubble wrapping his award up as we speak.

Clearly, the HFPA knows just how bad things look right now, because they’ve issued a statement responding to NBC’s decision not to air the Golden Globe Awards in 2022. In it, they list a bunch of ways they promise they’re going to do better. You can read the whole thing at The Hollywood Reporter, but here’s a brief summary of their statement:

Regardless of the next air date of the Golden Globes, implementing transformational changes as quickly – and as thoughtfully – as possible remains the top priority for our organization. We invite our partners in the industry to the table to work with us on the systemic reform that is long overdue, both in our organization as well as within the industry at large.

They state that in the next week, they plan to revise and approve a new code of conduct for their members, that they’ll continue to pursue new members, that they will establish a hotline for HFPA member violations, engage with a new Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion consultant, and show their work publicly. At the end of the month, they have a goal to lead DEI and sexual harassment training and form something called a Credentials Committee, which will help establish new members. The list goes on and on and on, and it kind of reads like a promise from a soon-to-be-ex about how they swear they’re going to change, starting first thing tomorrow. They also claim that it won’t be until August before they add any new members. The HFPA really didn’t need to issue such a long statement. Their promises list should have just been this:

Effectively immediately, we will:
– increase our number of Black reporters from zero to not zero
– stop doing sexist shit
– no longer operate on a wink-wink bribey-bribey system anymore

And if they have time, after all, that, maybe they can also stop allegedly covering up sexual harassment? I’m asking entirely too much of them, I’m sure. Just stick with the first three for now – it’s truly a baby steps process when you’ve been corrupt for so long.

Pic: YouTube