Melina Matsoukas Claims Globes Voters Didn’t Watch The Film

Social media was already outraged over the lack of people of color nominated for Golden Globes awards this year, and now, a new “here we go again” scenario is playing out.

Queen & Slim director Melina Matsoukas, according to Variety, is claiming that voters for the annual awards event didn’t even bother to watch her movie.

“We held three screenings for the HPFA and almost no members attended,” she told the news outlet. “For me, it’s reflective of their voting body. It’s not reflective of the society in which we live in or the industry as it stands today. They don’t value the stories that represent all of us, and those stories are so often disregarded and discredited, as are their filmmakers.

“It’s extremely discouraging. It’s extremely infuriating,” she added. “And it just represents an archaic system that is full of people who don’t value us.”

RELATED: Golden Globes Snubs Black Women

Written and produced by Lena Waithe, Queen & Slim stars Daniel Kaluuya and Jodie Turner-Smith and has so far grossed nearly $30 million at the U.S. box office, outperforming expectations.

A HPFA representative has since disputed the claim, saying that the members largely did watch the film, but that all voters were sent screeners and could have viewed it at home.

“The HFPA maintains that ‘Queen & Slim’ was in the conversation amongst the membership,” the organization stated to Variety.

Universal Pictures, the distributor of Queen & Slim, declined to comment, according to Variety.

Among the snubs that outraged social media users included Regina King for her role as Sister Night on HBO’s popular series Watchmen, Zendaya for her acting in Euphoria, and Lupita Nyong’o and Alfrie Woodard for roles in Us and Clemency, respectively. 

But perhaps the most fury was unleashed after Ava DuVernay’s Emmy-winning series When They See Us was completely shut out from prospective categories like best miniseries or best television film. No actors or actresses were nominated either.