Dissolving the HFPA was a good move, but retaining the voting members of the Golden Globes is not exactly a solution.

For decades, the annual entertainment show The Golden Globes has been an inside scam and an outward joke in the entertainment industry. The only time there had been reason to care was when Ricky Gervais was host and eviscerated the industry on stage. Operated by a small group of quasi-journalists on the take, the Hollywood studio system played along with the sham because they could leverage the awards for greater awards influence, and performers could benefit from publicity and personal charitable donations.

The announcement that the Golden Globes had been bought rocked Hollywood. Operated by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), that non-profit outfit would be entirely dissolved, and the Globes would become the intellectual property of Eldridge Industries, with Dick Clark Productions and Penske Media. The announced changes to this enterprise do not exactly instill confidence that problems will be remedied.

The HFPA has been long mired in a variety of problems and scandals. This tightly operated group has always typified the term “cloistered.” It sported roughly 80 members with extremely dubious qualifications as journalists. Some members would only generate a handful of blog posts or video entries per year, all while established entertainment journalists from major outlets would not be granted membership. This was due to a rule that applicants could be denied entry if they were vetoed by just a solitary member.

The HFPA gentry was largely regarded as “junket whores” – people who would rush to media events and promotional appearances for films to get select moments with celebrities. They were known more for taking selfies than taking notes for stories, and many times their actions were not the type seen of professional reporters but fawning fans. But these were the most moderate of complaints.

Throughout the years, the Globes-HFPA were the focus of many scandals. Bribes and payola were a recurring theme, with select films or performers at times receiving curious nominations or awards, only to later learn that studios had garnered the plaudits through payouts. In one example, the laughably inept film “Burlesque” was nominated after HFPA members were granted a luxury week in Vegas and were given a private concert from Cher. The Netflix show “Emily In Paris” was a recent focal point when members were jetted out to the set in France.

Aside from gifts and luxury jaunts, other forms of graft have been revealed. Some members have been known to sell off their own tickets to the Golden Globes for tens of thousands of dollars. The alleged non-profit group found ways to pay off members by giving them token jobs with committee assignments. It is unclear how this new business arrangement is going to lead to solutions.

To start, this is going to be a privately held for-profit ownership. Further, not only are most of the members going to be retained, many will be given paid positions. Others will be given jobs providing content for the Golden Globes website. Another issue is industry connections. Eldridge has a stake in a movie studio – A24. Penske is a media company operating major Hollywood news outlets Variety and The Hollywood Reporter. These could lead to questions about improper coverage or promotions.

Last year’s ceremony — after being dropped by NBC over another scandal — barely had six million viewers. In all honesty, this was a major overhaul long in need of taking place. There have been generations of these ethical lapses in the awards – so why does Hollywood put up with it after all these years and all the controversies?

In short: because they are all whores in that town.

The Golden Globes are positioned as the first awards show of the year. The show also recognizes films in different categories — Drama, and Comedy/Musical. This doubles the number of titles to be nominated, and the studios use this in both promoting their films as well as launching campaigns for Academy Awards notice. The performers benefit as well, through publicizing films to philanthropic donations to foundations under their names.

The Golden Globes has long been a proven pathway to gaining notice and generating awards season buzz. If they need to bribe a few corrupt voters to get those juicy nominations, then so be it.