Hollywood greets Golden Globes nominations with thunderous silence

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) have announced the nominations for the 79th annual Golden Globe Awards to a palpable lack of excitement. In the days leading up to the Golden Globe nominations, it was unclear what impact the announcement would have and in the nearly 12 hours since the film and television nominations were revealed, the answer has been 'not much', reports variety.com.

The HFPA, the organisation behind the show, is mired in controversy over the historic lack of diversity in its membership and for reportedly questionable ethical practices.

Since the scandal exploded in February, the organisation made moves to welcome more journalists of colour into its ranks and institute new bans on gifts, but the A-list talent that once flocked to its telecast is steering clear until more time has passed.

'Pose' co-creator and showrunner Steven Canals was one of the few nominees to react to his show's latest accolade in real time well. He first tweeted excitement that the show was recognised, he soon followed it up with more context.

"'Pose' scored 3 Golden Globe nominations. This affirmation is bittersweet," Canals wrote.

He added: "They'll likely be the last of our recognition for the final season. And it comes from an organisation that hasn't always been inclusive of the folks centered on our show."

In a second tweet, Canals continued: "Hoping these nominations mean the HFPA is making an intentional effort to address the criticism they've received in recent past, and we'll continue to see acknowledgment and recognition of all the incredible work being produced by BIPOC and LGBTQ+ people."

However, there were no press releases sent en masse with statements thanking the HFPA and saluting co-stars and filmmakers.

Also absent were the emotional reaction calls between journalists and nominees, still recovering from their shock at the big news. Instead, when Variety reached out to the nominated studios and publicists for top talent, most messages went unanswered or were met with a "no comment."

However, when the Critics Choice Association announced its film award nominees three hours later, the industry perked up a bit.

Only then did some studios, like Disney, release diplomatic posts to social media touting their nominations from both awards bodies.

For example, the studio celebrated 'WandaVision's four Critics Choice Awards nominations in a post that also mentioned its Golden Globes recognition for stars Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany, but did not release an official statement celebrating either set of awards.

'The Eyes of Tammy Faye' and 'Scenes From a Marriage' star Jessica Chastain employed a similar approach, posting a thank you note celebrating all of her nominations at once.

"Big day for Tammy Faye," the Oscar-nominated actor wrote, thanking her collaborators and both associations for recognising all of their work on the project.

'In the Heights' director Jon M. Chu shouted out his film's star Anthony Ramos for his best actor nomination, as well as Stephanie Beatriz and Lin-Manuel Miranda for their nods for Disney's 'Encanto' and Miranda's directorial debut 'Tick, Tick… Boom!' Chu also saluted his 'Crazy Rich Asians' colleagues Adele Lim, Awkwafina and Gemma Chan, as well as his 'Wicked' star Cynthia Erivo for their respective recognitions for 'Raya and the Last Dragon' and 'Genius: Aretha'.

'Being the Ricardos' star Nicole Kidman, 'Belfast's' Jamie Dornan and Caitriona Balfe, Aunjanue Ellis, Omar Sy, Billy Porter and Hannah Waddingham were also among the nominees to share their excitement about the nominations and were re-posted on the Golden Globes' official Instagram.

Netflix, which was one of the first studios to boycott the HFPA, publicly focused on the Critics Choice nods alone in its posts on Monday morning.

Though 'The Power of the Dog' shared the top spot for Golden Globes nominees with Focus Features' 'Belfast', both movies only touted their heap of Critics Choice nods on social media.

The lack of fanfare shouldn't come as much of a surprise given the smaller number of media attendees at Monday morning's nomination ceremony or the fact that, at the height of the HFPA controversy, more than 100 PR firms banded together to announce that their clients would no longer participate in exclusive press conferences, interviews and HFPA events until meaningful change had been instituted.