Enlarge image
Racism allegations: Philip Berk has to leave the Hollywood Foreign Press Association
Photo:
Michael Tran / FilmMagic / Getty Images
The former chairman of the organization that awards the Golden Globes was removed from the governing body after calling Black Lives Matter a "hate movement."
The board of directors of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) wrote in a statement on Tuesday that Phil Berk will not be a member of the organization in the future.
A few hours earlier, the NBC television station, which broadcasts the award ceremony, criticized Berk's remarks and called for his immediate expulsion.
Born in South Africa, Berk had been re-elected eight times as head of the HFPA.
He was with the organization for over 40 years.
The 88-year-old Berk had sent an email to the members and staff of the HFPA on Sunday in which he had attacked a co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement, Patrisse Cullors.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Berk shared an article calling Black Lives Matter a "racist hate movement" and Cullors calling himself a "trained Marxist."
Just last month the HFPA appointed a strategic advisor on diversity issues.
Shaun Harper has now resigned from office.
In his resignation letter, he describes his initial optimism when he joined the organization;
but he must now declare his withdrawal after having learned about the "deep systematic and reputation-related challenges" facing the HFPA.
Harper, who is a professor of race, gender and LGBTQ issues at the University of Southern California, said he has lost faith in the change skills required by the HFPA.
His commitment to the fight for equality made it "impossible to continue serving as an advisor to the HFPA."
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association had been harshly criticized in February.
At the time, not a single one of the 87 members of the HFPA was black.
The organization had announced that it would develop a plan that would lead to the admission of black members.
Hollywood's leading PR firms had threatened to discourage their stars from attending HFPA events in the future - the most famous of which is the annual Golden Globe Awards, the second most important film award after the Oscars.
feb / AP