Pia Zadora’s breakthrough in Butterfly became one of the most disputed awards stories of the early 1980s. The independently financed film, written and directed by Matt Cimber and backed by Zadora’s husband, Israeli multimillionaire Meshulam Riklis, was savaged by critics and later received ten Golden Raspberry nominations. Zadora herself won both Worst Actress and Worst New Star at the Razzies, while The New York Times’ Vincent Canby described her performance as “spectacularly inept.” Yet at the 39th Golden Globe Awards in 1982, she won Best Female Newcomer over far more acclaimed contenders including Elizabeth McGovern for Ragtime and Kathleen Turner for Body Heat.
The victory immediately triggered accusations that Riklis had engineered the result rather than merely supporting his wife’s career. Before the awards, he reportedly flew members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association to Las Vegas to hear Zadora perform, an extraordinary promotional gesture given that the HFPA’s members were the journalists whose votes determined the Golden Globes. The timing and the couple’s lavish access to the organization created a widespread perception that the award had been “bought,” although no definitive proof of a direct payoff or vote-rigging was established. The controversy became inseparable from Zadora’s reputation: instead of validating Butterfly as a major debut, the Globe was treated as evidence of Hollywood influence, money, and aggressive awards campaigning overwhelming critical judgment. The incident remains a classic example of the Golden Globes’ historically informal and vulnerable voting culture, while Zadora’s later Razzie sweep made the contrast even more conspicuous.
