Amid nationwide Black Lives Matter protests last summer, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) voted against hiring a diversity consultant, The Los Angeles Times found. Lorenzo Soria, who was the HFPA’s president, spearheaded the initiative to hire a consultant because “of the times we’re living [in] and because there is always something that I think we can all learn that again we may not be aware of.” He suggested Pam Jackson, former vice president of international distribution publicity at 20th Century Fox, but when his colleagues voted against Jackson’s hiring he said he would come back with more options. Soria died in August and it’s not clear if another vote was taken. The HFPA and Golden Globes have faced continuing criticism for a glaring lack of diversity, including the association’s failure to include a single Black member in at least the last 20 years.
