Longtime HFPA Member Philip Berk Expelled for Racist Email | THR News - video Dailymotion

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An eight-term past president of the group behind the Golden Globe Awards, Berk was expelled after emailing an article to his fellow members that described Black Lives Matter as a "racist hate movement" and slammed its co-founder, Patrisse Cullors, for purchasing a home in Topanga Canyon

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00:00Philip Burke, a longtime member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, has been expelled from the HFPA.

00:06An eight-term past president of the group behind the Golden Globe Awards,

00:10Burke was expelled after emailing an article to his fellow members that described Black Lives Matter

00:14as a, quote, racist hate movement and slammed its co-founder Patrice Cullors for purchasing a home in Topanga Canyon.

00:21The 88-year-old received considerable backlash to his Sunday email from fellow members,

00:26according to the Los Angeles Times, which received a copy of the email chain.

00:30One member labeled Burke's email racist, another vile, and a third called him a thundering disgrace.

00:36The HFPA COO notified Burke that it was not appropriate behavior, to which Burke replied,

00:40I only intended to illustrate the hypocrisy that engulfs us. I forwarded it as a point of information.

00:46I had no hidden agenda. I now regret having sent it.

00:49In a statement released Tuesday afternoon, the HFPA board stated,

00:52Effective immediately, Phil Burke is no longer a member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

00:57This was Burke's third strike with the HFPA. He previously took a leave of absence after writing a 2014 memoir

01:03with signs and wonders that did not reflect well on the organization,

01:07and was accused by actor Brendan Fraser in 2018 of groping Fraser at an event in 2003.

01:13Earlier in a Monday evening statement, the HFPA said in part,

01:16The views expressed in the article circulated by Mr. Burke are those of the author of the article,

01:20and do not in any way, shape, or form reflect the views and values of the HFPA.

01:25Burke's expulsion comes at a time when the HFPA is already facing a crisis.

01:30A February 21st Los Angeles Times article revealed that the organization

01:33currently counts zero black people among its 87 voting members.

01:38Under fire from Time's Up, the HFPA vowed to do better on its February 28th Globes telecast,

01:43and later vowed to announce substantial reforms by May 6th.

01:47For more details on this story, head to the article on THR.com.

01:50For The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Neha Joy.

Longtime HFPA Member Philip Berk Expelled for Racist Email | THR News

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