The HFPA has sued the media giant over its role in an alleged conspiracy to fraudulently acquire the Golden Globe Awards, dismantle its founder and exert monopolistic control.<\/p>\n
The acquisition<\/a> of one of the most prestigious awarding bodies in Hollywood is under fire in a new antitrust lawsuit<\/a> brought by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA).<\/p>\n The HFPA, founder and former owner of the Golden Globe Awards, has sued Penske Media Corporation and the Golden Globe Foundation over allegations that a corrupt scheme and monopolistic power grab lay at the heart of the 2023 acquisition of the glamorous, celebrity-packed annual awards show.<\/p>\n Penske Media Corporation chairman Jay Penske and Golden Globe Foundation CEO Gregory Goeckner have also been named as defendants in the lawsuit, which was filed by Kasowitz on behalf of the HFPA yesterday (28 July) with the US District Court for the Central District of California.<\/p>\n The lawsuit alleges violations of state and federal antitrust laws, unfair competition, unfair trade practices, fraud, legal malpractice and breach of fiduciary duty, among other causes of action. The HFPA is seeking more than $150 million in damages and treble damages, among other forms of relief.<\/p>\n Conspiracy<\/p>\n The defendants are accused of undertaking a \u201cclandestine scheme\u201d to fraudulently seize control of the Golden Globe Awards, dismantle the 80-year-old organisation that created them, and establish a monopoly over Hollywood\u2019s trade publications, entertainment awards and advertising markets.<\/p>\n The fit-for-Hollywood conspiracy is said to have originated in 2021, when Penske and billionaire associate Todd Boehly allegedly leveraged their Hollywood trade publications, including Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, to promote a HFPA boycott with the aim of devaluing the organisation and opening the doors to a takeover.<\/p>\n Boehly is accused of infiltrating the association through his appointment as interim CEO, working with then-HFPA president Helen Hoehne to facilitate the acquisition of the Golden Globes Awards by advancing a \u201cmarkedly corrupt purchase process\u201d. The complaint points to the 2023 joint venture between Penske Media and Eldridge, which later acquired Dick Clark Productions. The newly formed company immediately assumed control of the Golden Globe Awards.<\/p>\n HFPA members are said to have been \u201ccompelled\u201d to approve the deal in a \u201csham process tainted by fraud, conflicts of interest and myriad breaches of fiduciary duty\u201d on the part of Hoehne, then-HFPA general counsel and COO Goeckner, and Boehly.<\/p>\n Hoehne, Goeckner and Boehly are further accused of endeavouring to ensure the Golden Globe Awards would be secured \u201cat a bargain\u201d, including by blocking competitive offers, employing \u2018bait and switch\u2019 tactics and making false promises to HFPA members, and modifying the asset purchase agreement (APA) to \u201cdeprive the HFPA of more than $25 million in promised consideration\u201d. Penske\u2019s involvement in the deal is also said to have been hidden from members of the association.<\/p>\n Solidified monopoly<\/p>\n According to the filing, Penske\u2019s acquisition of the awards show served as a \u201ccentral component of a broad anticompetitive trust\u201d, through which the media mogul owned or controlled at least half a dozen top award shows, including the Billboard Music Awards and the American Music Awards.<\/p>\n The Golden Globe acquisition has been framed as a solidification of Penske and Boehly\u2019s horizontal and vertical monopoly on the awards market. They are accused of seizing exclusionary power over the domestic and foreign press and control over the entertainment news disseminated to the general public, all while holding a monopoly over \u201cstreams of advertising revenue\u201d in the market.<\/p>\n \u201cThrough this alleged anticompetitive trust, Penske-owned trade publications promote Penske-owned contenders for Penske-owned awards predicted by a Penske-owned website,\u201d said Kasowitz in a statement.<\/p>\n Goeckner is also accused of conspiring with Penske and Boehly to fraudulently transfer roughly $4 million from the HFPA to the Golden Globe Foundation.<\/p>\n The HFPA is represented by Daniel Saunders, Robert Bosslet, Dwayne Amos and Kristine Abrenica of Kasowitz.<\/p>\n Penske Media Corporation and the Golden Globe Foundation did not immediately respond to ICLG News\u2019 request for comment.<\/p>\n