The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has issued a statement following an email sent by its former president calling the Black Lives Matter organization “a hate movement.”

According to the LA Times, former HFPA president and current member Phil Berk sent a message to members, quoting an article that called the Black Lives Matter organisation a “racist hate movement” and singled out its co-founder, Patrisse Cullors, as a “self-proclaimed trained Marxist.” Several HFPA members responded in objection to the email.