Golden Globes Owner Jay Penske Sues Golden Globe Foundation in Bizarre Legal Twist

The Golden Globes have a reputation for being loose with their category lines — and the backstage legal fight now surrounding the iconic telecast has taken an unexpectedly farcical turn.

When Jay Penske took control of the Golden Globes in 2023 and pushed out the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, he probably didn’t expect to be dragged into a prolonged courtroom saga with the very group he ousted.

Now, Golden Globes LLC — the company run by Penske — has filed suit against the Golden Globe Foundation, a nonprofit with a confusingly similar name whose board is largely made up of former HFPA members who themselves are suing Penske in federal court.

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Penske, who owns the retooled awards show, accuses the foundation — currently headed by ex-HFPA member Raffi Boghosian — of appropriating and exploiting the Golden Globe name without authorization.

In the latest complaint, Golden Globes LLC says it became the “exclusive owner” of the Golden Globe trademark and related intellectual property after the embattled HFPA sold those assets to Penske and fellow billionaire Todd Boehly in June 2023.

The filing says the parties did talk about a potential license for the name to the newly formed foundation, but those negotiations “failed to produce an agreement on acceptable terms.”

Despite that, the complaint alleges, the foundation kept using the Golden Globe brand across grant promotions, dinners, auctions, events and marketing materials — and even started rolling out “Golden Globe” merchandise. (Apparently, whoever put together the merch didn’t feel bold enough to mess with the “s.”)

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The lawsuit functions as a counterpunch to a federal complaint lodged in July by a group of former HFPA members, who accused Penske and former Golden Globe Foundation CEO Gregory Goeckner of colluding on a long-running plot to seize the Globes and dismantle the HFPA.

The spat escalated after Boghosian and other foundation directors allegedly orchestrated a boardroom coup that removed Goeckner — a development we reported on in July.

Boghosian was then voted in as interim CEO of the Golden Globe Foundation. (Yes, it’s getting complicated.)

According to Penske’s complaint, while Boghosian was in charge the foundation terminated Goeckner and outside counsel at a time when those lawyers were negotiating a trademark license with Golden Globes LLC. The suit says Boghosian then “directed and authorized the expansion” of the foundation’s use of the Golden Globe name.

Golden Globes LLC alleges further that the foundation and the old HFPA faction are coordinating efforts against the Globes’ current owners — namely Penske and Boehly.

Penske’s filing also warns that any settlement funneling money to the foundation could ultimately redirect charitable funds — intended for causes highlighted during the telecast, from journalism initiatives to other nonprofit recipients — back to the HFPA to “finance the HFPA’s lawsuit and other private disputes” against Golden Globes LLC. The complaint argues that such a scheme would be anything but charitable.

The company is asking the court to bar the foundation from using the Golden Globe name, to force the foundation to turn over any profits tied to the name, and to award potentially trebled damages, attorneys’ fees and costs.

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Los Angeles law firm Sidley Austin is representing Penske; a spokesperson for Penske declined to comment.

Nate Miller, who represents the Golden Globe Foundation, told Page Six Hollywood: “The Golden Globe Foundation was created in 2023 as part of the same deal that sold the Golden Globes to the company now suing us.”

Miller added that the awards and the foundation initially worked together, noting that the Globes’ president welcomed guests to the foundation’s first grants dinner, where the foundation donated $5 million to 96 organizations, and publicly thanked Penske Media’s Robb Report for supporting the effort.

To make matters more tangled, the former HFPA members who sued in July had actually named the Golden Globe Foundation as a defendant in their lawsuit against Penske and Goeckner — but that was quietly dropped last month. Sources say the HFPA removed the foundation from its case without fanfare.

“They essentially settled among themselves,” one person with knowledge of the litigation said.

“They got rid of Goeckner in order to unite against Jay Penske,” said another individual familiar with the sprawling dispute. “Goeckner was the obstacle.”

The Golden Globe Foundation is being defended by Latham & Watkins — a seemingly high-priced choice for a nonprofit that, according to the complaint, is watching every penny.

Boghosian, for his part, emailed foundation members on Oct. 1 to inform them that the Golden Globes had sued the foundation over use of the Golden Globe name and trademark. “Now that company, owned by Penske Media and Todd Boehly’s Eldridge, is suing a nonprofit that supports schools and press freedom over the same name it once celebrated. This lawsuit is a transparent attempt to pressure the Foundation, and we will answer it in court,” he wrote.

He asked board members not to speak to the media or respond to inquiries. One foundation director sent a separate note to potential stakeholders criticizing Page Six Hollywood’s coverage earlier in the summer.

“Going forward, the Foundation will be taking a more proactive and firm approach to media matters. We respect the important role of a free and independent press and welcome fair and responsible reporting. At the same time, we have an obligation to protect the Foundation, its reputation, and its mission,” that email read.

With Halloween near, it might be fitting to note that the HFPA seems to be popping back up in the third act of this saga — much to Penske’s chagrin.