Hollywood Critics Association to Restructure After Accusations of Racism Against Founder Scott Menzel

thewrap.com:

Fowler resigned earlier this month, citing a “hostile, biased and dismissive” work environment. On Wednesday, she shared a long tweet in which went into details, including that every time she mentioned racial bias, she was met with “hostility” by Menzel, HCA treasurer Alisa Gichon and vice president Nestor Bentancor.“In my opinion, they wanted a Black female public-facing token President but brought in without any announcement, a white female Treasurer, Alisa, to be studio-facing with financial transparency alongside Menzel,” Fowler wrote.

Due to the overwhelming amount of support from some of my former co-members of the Hollywood Critics Association, including those that have removed themselves as members upon my departure, as well as those sending me questions requesting the details of my resignation, I feel…“While at HCA, I witnessed Menzel and Gichon acting with bias towards two Black showrunners respectively, ‘The Woman King’ director via Twitter, since deleted, as well as the director for ‘Regret to Inform You,’ who was denied his seat, along with his 72 year old mother and cousin, at his and my table during the 2023 film awards as the only Black male nominee present in February,” she added.

Fowler continued, “I demanded formal bias training for HCA after those incidents, which was not completed upon my resignation, and in my opinion, was not enough to right the wrongs of the Board and executive team.”HCA’s restructuring announcement included that the organization would be “looking at inclusivity in language and opportunities through a DEI lens.”.