#Hollywood hypocrites cancel Golden Globes — but not Armie Hammer

On Sunday, Hollywood put on a big show about not putting on a big show.

The Golden Globe Awards were held — sort of — at the Beverly Hilton hotel as usual, but because of COVID and a diversity controversy they were not televised on NBC and there was no audience, red carpet or star presenters. 

In fact, there was no possible way to watch the show honoring the best of what we’ve watched all year. 

What’s all the fuss about? Last February, a damning report in the Los Angeles Times revealed that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the tiny group that votes for the prizes, had no black members.

Outrage ensued (harmless awards shows have annoyingly become reliable lightning rods for for scandal and anger) and NBC axed the 2022 edition.

The problem has since been remedied: The HFPA added 21 diverse journalists to their ranks, including six black voters, and forged a partnership with the NAACP.

The Peacock shrugged. The program still wasn’t broadcast and celebrities by and large ignored their nominations. Usually chirpy self-absorbed social media accounts of stars were conspicuously silent. And in Variety, where movies and TV shows take out full-page “For Your Consideration” ads during awards season, contenders have been championing their Critics Choice Award nods instead.

The Globes — a silly show where A-listers get drunk while Ricky Gervais insults them — have become Hollywood’s No. 1 Pariah.

What a crock.

Let’s be real — NBC’s decision not to broadcast the Globes does not elect them as pope. If the awards show was a huge money-making enterprise with boffo ratings and unparalleled exposure for stars, Hollywood would’ve been much quicker to forgive the HFPA.

But Tinseltown is full of hypocrites.

Take the upcoming movie “Death on the Nile,” starring Armie Hammer. The actor is currently under police investigation for sexually assaulting a woman and, according to the alleged victim, abusing her “mentally, emotionally and sexually.” His new film is a month away from heading to theaters on Feb. 11, and nobody seems to care. 

(Hammer denies the allegations.)

Disney and 20th Century Studios didn’t bother reshooting Hammer’s scenes for the movie a la Kevin Spacey in “All the Money in the World.” He’s displayed prominently on the poster and the film’s various delays were mostly due to COVID — not saintliness.

That collective “meh” is because Disney and 20th Century Studios know this movie will probably make them a lot of money. Kenneth Branagh’s last Agatha Christie film, “Murder on the Orient Express,” raked in $352 million worldwide on a $55 million budget. We couldn’t possibly cancel that!

Nor am I saying they should, but virtue-signaling Hollywood’s selective outrage is so pathetically transparent, NBC nixed the Globes because it was easy.

The broadcast has had ratings declines for years. Last year’s edition was seen by just 6.9 million viewers — the Globes’ worst numbers since the ceremony was aired on TBS in the ‘90s. All awards shows are taking their final dying breaths.

The HFPA membership controversy gave NBC an easy out for a year of a logistically challenging, money-losing endeavor. What do you do when the boyfriend you’ve started to hate anyway crashes your car? You break up with him.

NBC is contracted to air the Golden Globes till 2026 for $60 million a year, but you can bet that a dedicated lawyer is spending many a sleepless night trying to rip that old agreement to shreds. Meanwhile, Disney’s figuring out how to make the most money from “Death on the Nile.”

That’s the way it goes in screwy ballyhooey Hollywood.