HFPA Files Antitrust Suit Over Golden Globes Takeover

On July 28, 2026, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association filed an antitrust complaint in the United States District Court for the Central District of California against Jay Penske, Penske Media Corporation, the Golden Globe Foundation, and former HFPA counsel Gregory Goeckner. The suit, brought by Kasowitz LLP, seeks to undo transactions that dissolved the HFPA and to challenge what the plaintiffs call a coordinated seizure of the Golden Globe Awards, an institution that traces its roots back about eighty years.

The complaint alleges that beginning around 2021 the defendants used ownership of major trade publications and coordinated boycotts to depress the value of the HFPA, rendering the organization vulnerable to acquisition; by acquiring both awards and the publications that cover them, the complaint says, the defendants gained outsized market power and an unfair commercial advantage. It also describes a pay-to-play dynamic in which For Your Consideration advertising across those trades was used to advantage favored entrants and chill competitors.

HFPA is asking for damages exceeding $150 million, treble damages, rescission of allegedly unlawful agreements, injunctive relief, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, and orders to return funds alleged to have been diverted. The complaint specifically alleges that about $4 million was transferred from the HFPA to the Golden Globe Foundation as part of the scheme to weaken the nonprofit and facilitate its dissolution.

Litigation of this scope will likely involve document discovery, witness depositions, and contested motions, and it may take many months before a trial, if any, occurs; if courts find antitrust violations, remedies could include undoing transactions and monetary penalties that reshape how awards and trade publications interact. For now, the parties are in court and the allegations remain claims to be proven.