Australians Kodi Smit-McPhee, Sarah Snook and Nicole Kidman have won Golden Globes at what has been deemed the most private Hollywood awards ceremony in history.

The Golden Globes, Hollywood’s so-called biggest party that regularly draws 18 million television viewers, was reduced to a live blog for its 79th edition on Monday (Australian time).

The embattled Hollywood Foreign Press Association went ahead with its film awards on Sunday night (local time) without a telecast, nominees, a red carpet, a host, press or even a live stream.

Instead, members of the HFPA and some recipients of the group’s philanthropic grants gathered at the Beverly Hilton Hotel for a 90-minute private event, announcing the names of the film and television winners on the organisation’s social media feeds.

Film winners included Will Smith for King Richard, Smit-McPhee for The Power of the Dog, Ariana DeBose for West Side Story and Andrew Garfield for tick, tick…BOOM!

The Japanese film Drive My Car, also a critics’ group darling, won the best non-English language motion picture, while Encanto won for animation.

Tweet from @goldenglobes

Television winners included: Jean Smart for Hacks, which also won best television comedy, Jason Sudeikis for Ted Lasso, Kidman for Being the Ricardos, Snook and Jeremy Strong for Succession, Kate Winslet for Mare of Easttown, O Yeong-su for Squid Game and Michael Keaton for Dopesick.

Barry Jenkins’ The Underground Railroad got best limited series. None of the winners appeared to be present at the event, nor did they immediately comment on their awards.

That the organisation proceeded with any kind of event came as a surprise to many in Hollywood.

The HFPA came under fire after a Los Angeles Times investigation last February revealed ethical lapses and a stunning lack of diversity — there was not a single black journalist in the 87-person group.

Studios and PR companies threatened to boycott. Tom Cruise even returned his three Golden Globes, while other A-listers condemned the group on social media.

The HFPA pledged reform last year, but even after a public declaration during the 78th show, its long-time broadcast partner NBC announced in May that it would not air the 2022 Golden Globes because “change of this magnitude takes time and work”.

The press association claims that in the months since its 2021 show, it has remade itself. The group has added a chief diversity officer; overhauled its board and inducted 21 new members, including six black journalists.

– with AAP