Nearly two years after the revelation that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association had no black African members – a scandal that brought the once powerful organisation to its knees – it’s announced the nominations for its upcoming 80th edition, in the hope of winning back the support of the entertainment industry that feeds it.

It was the British-Irish dark-comedy The Banshees of Inisherin that topped the list, with eight nominations, including for its stars Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Barry Keoghan and Kerry Condon, its writer-director Martin McDonagh and the film itself is up for Best Musical or Comedy film.

The quirky comedy Everything Everywhere All At Once is up against Banshees for five of its six nominations, including Best Comedy Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress. It’s other nomination is for Michelle Yeoh, as Best Actress in a Comedy.

The nominations are spread more thinly across the drama categories, with James Cameron and Stephen Spielberg being nominated for directing their nominated films Avatar: The Way of Water and The Fabelmans, respectively, although none of their actors have made the list. And, as ever, the categories themselves raise their own questions, as Baz Luhrmann’s music-filled biopic of the King of Rock n Roll, Elvis, secures nominations in the drama categories, rather than the musical ones.

Tom Cruise might be glad not to have been short-listed for a Best Actor prize, having handed his three previous trophies back to the HFPA in protest at their alleged racism and corruption. He has been nominated as a producer, though, as Top Gun: Maverick is in the running for the best dramatic film. Perhaps his position on the HFPA has softened, as his production company Skydance tweeted congratulations to the film for its two nominations, the second being for Lady Gaga for its song, Hold My Hand.

But most awards watchers have been more interested in a star who won’t be celebrating his nomination; Brendan Fraser recently told GQ magazine that he wouldn’t be attending the ceremony if his role in The Whale secured him a nomination, because the HFPA failed to take seriously allegations that a former president Phil Berk groped his backside at the 2003 ceremony. His mother didn’t raise a hypocrite, he said. But not nominating him could have caused the organisation more embarrassment if the awards season front-runner went on to win the Oscar.

The HFPA have also gone to form and nominated Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie for the comedy Babylon; long before the scandal, the organisation had a reputation for nominating stars, just to get them on the red carpet. They’ll be hoping other big names with turn out in person to celebrate their recognition – including Daniel Craig, Emma Thompson and Adam Driver in the film categories – and Steve Martin, Kevin Costner and Jeff Bridges, who are among the TV nominees.

After last year’s untelevised awards were boycotted entirely by the industry, with the winners being announced by press release, the organisers will be hoping the showbiz world starts to come back on side and uses these nominations as a launchpad for their upcoming Oscar campaigns. But the jury is still out on whether stars, publicists and studios believe the organisation has gone far enough to clean up its act.

The HFPA’s President Helen Hoehne has noted that the admission of six black journalists last year – along with the addition of more than 100 non-HFPA voters from outside the US – means that the awards will, for the first time, be voted on “by a majority of women and those who self-identify as ethnically diverse.” She’s also highlighted the fact that voters are no longer allowed to accept gifts and stressed that there is now a hotline to which complaints can be made about HFPA members and officials.

But questions have been raised about whether the hotline is being used. A former member, Husam Asi, who was expelled after an external investigation cleared him of a range of allegations of sexual harassment, cited, in a declaration to the Superior Court of Los Angeles, that he made a complaint about the HFPA’s COO Greg Goeckner, and it has not – to his knowledge – been investigated.

In a court ruling last week, a judge rejected the HFPA’s attempt to dismiss Dr Asi’s wider lawsuit, alleging – among other things – that while he was a member, he was a victim of Islamophobia and sexual harassment from HFPA board members – none of which was ever investigated. The court documents say Asi was told by the HFPA’s strategist, James Lee, that “bringing up stuff like that would hurt the HFPA.”

In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Neil Phillips, hired as the HFPA’s Chief Diversity Officer after the racism scandal emerged, said he was helping the organisation “on a journey to diversity, equity and inclusion,” but in Dr Asi’s court papers, he states that he informed Mr Phillips of discriminatory behaviour towards him, but after sending him a copy of the by-laws, never heard back.

In her Hollywood Reporter interview, Hoehne says the HFPA has recently “let go of a few members who didn’t meet the standard,” stressing that it strictly enforces its code of conduct. But with its efforts to block Dr Asi’s legal action failing just days before one of its biggest moments – the nominations announcement being only second to the awards ceremony itself – the board could be concerned about evidence that might emerge in open court about the effect of its reforms.

Its TV network, NBC, which was contracted to broadcast the awards ceremony until 2026, has now reached a deal to end the contract after next month’s show, which could suggest that it, too, is not yet convinced by the new HFPA.

Only a handful of nominees have personally tweeted about their recognition, with many not wanting to be seen as going first, preferring to wait to see whether others jump back on the bandwagon so that they can follow suit.

The waiting is often the hardest thing, but while the nominees are waiting to find out whether the new-look Golden Globes voters pick them, the wider industry will be waiting to see what emerges in the law courts – and the courts of public opinion – before concluding whether the awards will make it to their 81st edition.

For the future of the HFPA and the Golden Globes brand that they’re in the process of selling to another of their new owner’s companies, a lot will depend on how this winter’s awards are received. In true Hollywood style, the ending of this story is too difficult to predict. The winners, perhaps, less so. And the winners will be announced on Tuesday 10th January, from this full list of Golden Globe nominations: