Golden Globes Voter Below Investigation After 3 Ladies Accuse Him of Misconduct

The Hollywood Worldwide Press Affiliation has tapped an out of doors regulation company to analysis accusations of sexual misconduct in the direction of Husam (Sam) Asi, a longtime member and Golden Globes voter.

Three women received right here forward in an investigation by TheWrap to accuse the Palestinian journalist of abusing their perception by turning expert situations into sexualized encounters, along with a former assistant who talked about that Asi confirmed her pornography at work and kissed her on the lips with out her consent.

A spokesperson for the HFPA — which has been beneath fireplace for lots of the ultimate 12 months amid accusations of corruption, racism and self-dealing that prompted NBC to once more out of televising the Globes remaining month — talked about that the group despatched the data equipped by TheWrap to an out of doors regulation company for evaluation, citing the group’s “intolerance for any type of discrimination or harassment.”

“The HFPA takes any and all allegations very severely and would not condone any type of inappropriate misconduct or habits,” the spokesperson talked about. “Whether or not it’s found {{that a}} member has violated the Code of Conduct, disciplinary movement could be taken, along with suspension and/or expulsion from the group. Upon receiving this information, we immediately despatched the complaints to the pores and skin regulation company for evaluation and investigation. The HFPA strongly encourages anyone with any grievance in the direction of any member to do the equivalent.”

Asi, an HFPA member since 2010 who was liable for working the HFPA web page as simply recently as remaining 12 months, on Tuesday responded to detailed accounts of the accusations: “We deny all these baseless accusations, and we have ample proof to point out them false.” He did not current any proof ahead of publication to counter the women’s claims.

In interviews with TheWrap, three women went on doc to ingredient accusations in the direction of Asi.

• Tianyue Li, who labored as an unpaid assistant for Asi for six months in 2017, talked about that Asi carried out Chinese language language pornography in entrance of her whereas she was working at his residence (“I don’t assume that’s acceptable,” she recalled telling him) and as quickly as kissed her on the lips with out her consent. “I was in my very personal space, and he merely leaned (in)… after which he kissed me,” she talked about. “I discussed, ‘No, I don’t want to do that,’ and I pushed him.” (Asi declined to comment intimately, though an individual close to Asi denied that the journalist had ever confirmed her pornography or kissed her.)

• Wenting “Ting Ting” Xu, a former HFPA member from China who resigned from the group in protest in 2021 over the scarcity of reforms, talked about she was mortified after she acquired into the group in 2016 — after attempting and failing to take motion in 2014 — and situated that Asi shared collectively together with her a rumor that she had carried out oral intercourse on him to understand admission. “Sam sooner or later received right here as a lot as me and talked about, ‘Whilst you wanted to make use of the first time, I was your sponsor, and members laughed at me and joked that you could possibly’ve given me a blow job to make sure that me to sponsor you,’” she recalled. “Solely people like Sam would even say that.” (The particular person close to Asi countered that Xu was aware of the rumor in 2014 and had laughed it off.)

• Former Russian journalist Hanna Greentree instructed TheWrap Asi gave her the impression he would solely sponsor her to alter right into a member of the HFPA if she had intercourse with him. Greentree, an area of Ukraine who wrote celeb interviews for retailers like Marie Claire and Whats up! beneath the determine Anna Pavlova, talked about Asi invited her to his residence in 2016 to debate sponsoring her software program and he or she immediately felt uncomfortable. Greentree talked about Asi did not openly proposition her, nonetheless the character of the dialog — talking about girlfriends and relationship moderately than the HFPA — happy her that he was angling for a relationship as a quid skilled quo sooner than he would adjust to once more her membership software program. “It was such a wierd dialog,” she instructed TheWrap. In the long run, Asi did not adjust to sponsor her. (Asi did not comment in extra ingredient on this accusation.)

Beneath the HFPA’s revised code of conduct, complaints are investigated by the worldwide ethics agency Convercent, which can make solutions about doable disciplinary movement, along with expulsion.

Study the whole account of he women’s accusations proper right here.

For the doc: A earlier mannequin of this story had incorrect dates for when Ting Ting Xu utilized for HFPA membership.