Jada Pinkett Smith is not taking the omission of her film and its breakout star (Tiffany Haddish) from Monday’s Golden Globe nominations lightly. The “Girls Trip” star took to Twitter on Tuesday to voice her discontent, alleging that the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. did not even watch the film.
“I’m not upset about @TiffanyHaddish or @GirlsTripMovie not getting a [nomination] … I’m discouraged about the fact that the Hollywood Foreign Press/@goldenglobes wouldn’t even WATCH the movie,” she wrote.
“Girls Trip” stars Pinkett Smith, Haddish, Queen Latifah and Regina Hall as a group of friends reconnecting, after years apart, on a trip to New Orleans’ annual Essence Music Festival. The film, which pulled $115 million at the box office, received positive reviews while Haddish’s performance was likened to that of Melissa McCarthy in “Bridesmaids.” (Although McCarthy did not receive a Golden Globe nomination for that performance, it did land her an Oscar nomination.)
According to a source with the HFPA, an official screening was held July 18.
Universal, the studio releasing the picture, confirmed that there was a screening for the HFPA. It also said that invitations were sent to the group for the film’s premiere and that members received screeners. But a news conference for the group was forgone as HFPA members did not travel to New Orleans, where the film was junketing — which Pinkett Smith also alluded to in her tweets.
She said she was voicing her concerns not to shame the Globes voters but to prompt a “discussion [about] an antiquated system.” She also said that she would not “invalidate all the many journalist[s] and people from all walks of life who have supported this movie by defining the [omission] as simply … racism.”
“Hollywood has systems in place that must learn to expand its concepts of race, gender equality and inclusion in regard[s] to its perceptions of art across the board,” she said, noting that “The Big Sick” was also wrongly snubbed, and commenting on the controversy around Jordan Peele’s “Get Out” being dubbed a comedy for nomination purposes. “[It] illuminates the depths of the sunken place … for real,” she said.
Hopes to see Haddish’s name throughout award season are not unfounded, despite her being left off many critics’ prediction lists. The comedian did net honors for her performance from the New York Film Critics Circle and the African American Film Critics Assn., among others.