Matt Damon Addresses Calls to Boycott the Golden Globes: ‘I Don’t Think the World Needs to Mourn the Death of an Awards Show’

Matt Damon is the latest celebrity to weigh in on the controversy surrounding the Golden Globes, following NBC’s announcement that they will not air the awards show in 2022.

Damon sat down with Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie on Tuesday’s Today Show, during which the hosts asked the star what he thought of the ongoing protests.

“If they go away, I don’t think anybody’s really going to lament that,” he said of the Golden Globes. “I don’t think the world needs to mourn the death of an awards show.”

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), a group of international journalists that preside over the Golden Globes, has faced consistent backlash following a Los Angeles Times exposé that revealed none of the organization’s 86 members are Black. 

Responding to the criticism, HFPA members recently voted in favor of a reform plan meant to create a more diverse and inclusive board by adding leadership positions, yet several stars have slammed the scheme as insufficient.

“We’ve been calling on the HFPA to make meaningful change,” Times Up CEO Tina Tchen told Gayle King. “We even gave them a roadmap for how to do it, to just demonstrate, this isn’t just about adding a few Black members.”

Both Scarlett Johansson and Mark Ruffalo also released statements condemning the HFPA and pledging to boycott any events sanctioned by group, including the Golden Globes, while Tom Cruise returned all three of his Golden Globe trophies.

In addition to NBC’s decision to drop the show, both Netflix and Amazon Studios vowed to stop working with the HFPA until the board implements policies meant to tackle the group’s larger issues — which Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos labeled as “systemic diversity and inclusion challenges.”

Watch above, via NBC.