Scarlett Johansson says she “refused to participate in” HFPA conferences after “facing sexist questions and remarks by certain HFPA members that bordered on sexual harassment”
Scarlett Johansson is urging her fellow industry members to halt their involvement with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
A small group of international journalists that determine the nominees and winners of the Golden Globe Awards each year — pending “necessary fundamental reform.”
Amid several groups’ announcements that they were pledging to end work with the HFPA until the organization makes changes that many feel are long overdue.
Johansson, 36, said in a statement obtained by both Deadline and Variety that some of her own experiences with the HFPA led her to “[refuse] to participate in their conferences.”
“As an actor promoting a film, one is expected to participate in awards season by attending press conferences as well as awards shows.
In the past, this has often meant facing sexist questions and remarks by certain HFPA members that bordered on sexual harassment.
It is the exact reason why I, for many years, refused to participate in their conferences,” she said. Representatives for the HFPA did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
The two-time Oscar nominee went on to allege that the HFPA “was legitimized by the likes of Harvey Weinstein to amass momentum for Academy recognition and the industry followed suit.”
Johansson concluded, “Unless there is necessary fundamental reform within the organization, I believe it is time that we take a step back from the HFPA and focus on the importance and strength of unity within our unions and the industry as a whole.”
