Brendan Fraser says he won’t attend next year’s Golden Globes, even if he’s nominated for his acclaimed performance in The Whale, after having alleged that he was sexually assaulted by the former president of the organisation that runs the awards.
In 2018, Fraser publicly alleged that Philip Berk, a longtime Hollywood Foreign Press Association member and a former president of the organisation behind the Globes, once groped him at a lunch in Beverly Hills, in 2003.
Fraser has said that the alleged incident was a factor in why he disappeared from Hollywood for so long: “I was blaming myself and I was miserable – because I was saying, ‘This is nothing; this guy reached around and he copped a feel.’ … it made me feel reclusive.”
In 2018, Berk called Fraser’s account “a total fabrication”, but acknowledged he had written an apology to Fraser over the incident at the time. After an internal investigation, conducted when Fraser went public, the HFPA concluded in that Berk had “inappropriately touched” Fraser, but said Berk’s action “was intended to be taken as a joke and not as a sexual advance.”
Berk remained a member of HFPA until he was expelled last year, after he called Black Lives Matter “a racist hate movement”.
“I knew they would close ranks,” Fraser told GQ on Wednesday. “I knew they would kick the can down the road. I knew they would get ahead of the story. I knew that I certainly had no future with that system as it was … I think it was because it was too prickly or sharp-edged or icky for people to want to go first and invest emotionally in the situation.”
Last year’s Golden Globes were all but canceled after the organisation was plunged into scandal over ethical indiscretions and the revelation that the group then included no Black voting members. Many stars, publicists and studios said they were boycotting the Globes.
Earlier this year, the HFPA, after reforms, said the 80th Golden Globes will be broadcast on 10 January.
But Fraser won’t be there.
“I have more history with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association than I have respect for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association,” Fraser told GQ Magazine in a cover story published on Wednesday.
Asked whether he’ll be involved with the ceremony if nominated, Fraser said, “No, I will not participate.”
“It’s because of the history that I have with them,” he added. “And my mother didn’t raise a hypocrite. You can call me a lot of things, but not that.”
In Darren Aronofsky’s film The Whale, which premiered at Venice film festival to rave reviews, Fraser plays a reclusive English teacher living with obesity who attempts to reconnect with his estranged daughter.
He’s nominated for outstanding lead performance at the upcoming Gotham Awards and is widely considered a likely best actor nominee at the Academy Awards in March.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
• Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 802 9999. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html
