Chelsea owner Todd Boehly is fighting back against accusations that he committed ‘fraudulent’ behaviour in his takeover of the Golden Globes.
The claim was made by former members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), which used to run the iconic film and TV awards, but has been dismissed by a source close to the American billionaire as a ‘character assassination’.
The anonymous group accused Boehly of unfairly taking control of the Globes in 2023 after the awards suffered a boycott by stars and publicists following years of scandal and the revelation that the HFPA had no black voting members.
These sensational claims about Boehly – who led the consortium which bought Cheslea FC from Roman Abramovich in a £4.25billion deal in 2022 – were made in a legal letter sent to California’s Attorney General in the hope that he would investigate the takeover.
Chelsea have spent around £1.15b on transfers since the Boehly-led consortium bought Chelsea but have not finished higher than sixth in the Premier League, though this campaign they sit fourth under Enzo Maresca.
The letter followed claims that Boehly had overseen a regime of ‘crass profiteering’ at his new body running the Globes which include accusations of ‘whoring out’ the Globes brand for ‘grubby events in the Middle East’, according to Hollywood news website Puck.
Todd Boehly is fighting accusations that he committed ‘fraudulent’ behaviour in his takeover of the Golden Globes
Boehly acquired the Golden Globes in 2023 through his private equity firm Eldridge Industries, along with Dick Clark Productions
Puck also highlighted claims that the show now charges thousands of dollars to post films and TV shows on its screening platform, which the HFPA never did, while ticket prices and other charges have also increased.
The letter sent in September 2023 called on the Attorney General, Rob Bonta, to delay signing off a formal ‘dissolution’ of the HFPA, due to its members having allegedly been ‘intentionally mislead’ when they approved the takeover.
The group, made up of international entertainment journalists, claimed that the final approval needed to be given as a result of the HFPA having a charitable arm.
But sources close to Boehly have disputed claims that the letter could impact the takeover of the Globes by his private equity firm, Eldridge Industries, along with Dick Clark Productions, which is headed by Jay Penske, the media tycoon.
One source suggested to MailOnline that the deal had already been signed off and there was no suggestion that the Attorney General had launched any investigation into the claims.
The source said it appeared that the letter had only recently been leaked in order to cause embarrassment to Boehly around the time of nominations for the Golden Globes ceremony.
The Attorney General’s office told Puck earlier this month that it was ‘currently reviewing the final request for a waiver of objection ‘to hold up the final dissolution of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’.
The office failed to respond to request for comment from MailOnline on what action had been or was being taken in relation to the letter.
A legal letter allegedly accuses Boehly of ‘crass profiteering’ and ‘whoring out’ the Globes brand for ‘grubby events in the Middle East’
Tom Cruise was among the figures who spoke out against the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which used to run the awards show before Boehly’s company
Boehly’s takeover followed the boycott of the HFPA which came in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement after it was revealed that the organisation had no black members in its 87-strong voting body, and had not inducted one in almost two decades.
There were also allegations of ethical failings including inappropriate ‘freebies’ from studios and PR agencies in return for votes cast by journalist members of the HFPA in the prestigious awards.
Actors who spoke out included Mission Impossible star Tom Cruise who returned his three Golden Globes, and Scarlett Johansson who urged other stars to ‘take a step back’ from the ceremony in protest after she recalled having to put up with sexist interviews by some HFPA journalists.
The protest led to Boehly being appointed interim CEO of the HFPA with a brief to bring about change and make the awards acceptable again.
The move came about due to his holding company Eldridge Industries owning Dick Clark Productions which had produced the ceremony on behalf of the HFPA since 1987.
Members of the HFPA eventually voted to allow Boehly’s full takeover, enabling him to run the Globes as a for-profit entity while retaining a charitable arm, and re-employing many members with salaries to continue assessing productions for awards.
But the letter which was sent to the Attorney General and has been seen by MailOnine accused Boehly of a conflict of interest by effectively acting as both the ‘seller’ of the struggling HFPA and the ‘buyer’.
It stated that full details of his takeover proposal were only shown to members eight days before they had to vote on it.
In 2021 he was made interim CEO of the HFPA with the mission of restoring the awards’ eligibility
There was also pressure put on members from HFPA president Helen Hoehne to ignore a counter offer from Pacific Coast Entertainment to takeover the Globes instead, it was alleged.
Two officials from the HFPA were said to have only been shown the first and last pages of Boehly’s purchase agreement before they signed it.
The letter went on to accuse Boehly and Ms Hoehne of alleged questionable deal making with ‘numerous breaches of their fiduciary duties’ and ‘fraudulent and inadequate execution of the purchase agreement’.
It further alleged that any members who had ‘expressed displeasure’ at the deal had been framed as ‘conspiracy theorists’ by Ms Hoehne, and those who refused to sign new contracts or non-disclosure agreements had been ‘let go with no compensation.’
But one person who was involved in negotiations for Boehly’s takeover which took place over 18 months insisted that the tycoon had acted legally and properly throughout the process.
In an exclusive interview with MailOnline, the source said: ‘This was a flawed organisation. There were definitely problems that needed to be addressed and they (Boehly’s team) took steps to do that.
‘Todd Boehly recused himself from any votes where there was a conflict of interest and the whole thing was looked at by top lawyers. They followed the rules and the law, exactly right.
‘This letter is not a lawsuit. It carries no legal weight at all. It is not like there is a smoking gun or any new information. It is just the same people who are complaining. Some of them were people who were kicked out. It is a character assassination.’
He took full control in 2023 after the boycott of the HFPA and his voting panel is said to have a more culturally and ethnically diverse cast
The Puck article claimed that further legal papers had accused Boehly of bringing in Penske as a partner over the heads of the HFPA, who did not agree to his involvement.
This ‘was ostensibly done to cleanse the self-dealing and conflicts of interest presented by Boehly’s status as both the purchaser and the seller in this transaction’, the letter alleged.
One member of the HFPA, which has been rebranded as the Golden Globes Foundation, told Puck: ‘There’s no world in which any of us would have agreed to being part of the Penske entertainment media monopoly.’
Under Boehly, the Golden Globes voting panel is said to have been increased to 334 members from 85 countries, with around 60 per cent of them being ethnically or culturally diverse.
Boehly’s representative at Eldridge Industries, a spokesperson for the Golden Globes and Ms Hoehne all declined to comment.
