Brendan Fraser, whose starring role in next month’s “The Whale” has generated significant award excitement says he does not plan to attend the next Golden Globes presentation, citing his “history” with the organization.
“I have less respect for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association because of my relationship with it in the past. No, I won’t take part, the actor said in a GQ interview that was made public on Wednesday.
Fraser appears to be making reference to the accusations the actor made in 2018 against Philip Berk, the former president of the HFPA, who he claims touched him at a gathering in 2003.
Fraser further explained his choice to GQ by saying, “My mother didn’t raise a hypocrite. There are many things you may call me, but not that.
2018 saw Fraser write about the interaction with Berk during a luncheon the group threw at the Beverly Hills Hotel, where Fraser claimed Berk grabbed his behind and groped him between his genitals and his anus through his pants.
“I was sick. Fraser recalled at the moment, “I felt like a small kid. “I had the sensation of having a ball in my throat. I was on the verge of tears. Although Berk admitted to pinching Fraser’s buttock at the disputed event, he maintained his innocence in a GQ interview by saying he did so in jest.
Following Fraser’s accusations, the HFPA issued a statement in which it stated that it was “looking into additional information surrounding the incident” and that it “firmly opposes sexual harassment.
Fraser claimed to GQ this week that, behind the scenes, the company eventually got in touch with him and suggested issuing a joint statement that read, in part, “Although it was concluded that Mr. Berk touched Mr. Fraser inappropriately, the evidence supports that it was intended to be taken as a joke and not as a sexual advance.”
According to Fraser, he declined to sign the purported joint statement. Fraser told GQ, “I knew they would close ranks. “I anticipated that they would put off taking action. They would lead the story, I knew it. I was aware that under the existing system, I had little chance of success.
Fraser remarked, in response to the question of why his account may not have generated much buzz, “I think it was because it was too prickly or sharp-edged or nasty for people to want to go first and invest emotionally in the scenario.”
After Fraser’s accusations, Berk continued to participate in HFPA activities up until last year when he was dismissed for sending HFPA associates a piece that called Black Lives Matter a “racist hate movement.”
The Los Angeles Times’ revelation that the association had no Black voting members led to criticism of the Golden Globes, which have traditionally been seen as the precursor to the Oscars.
NBC cut broadcast connections with the group while it worked to enact “real reform,” in spite of the organization’s efforts to resolve the dispute and other ethical issues.
The Golden Globes of 2022 were not broadcast on television. The HFPA’s “commitment to continual transformation,” according to the NBC announcement from September is what led to the show’s return to the air in 2023.
Fraser expressed skepticism when asked whether he thought any of the HFPA’s stated measures would actually result in advancement. “Not at this time. He recently said to GQ, “I don’t know what they’re going to do but maybe time will tell if they’re going to. “I’m not sure,”
Fraser is seen as a lock for an Oscar nod for best actor after receiving a resoundingly favorable response during the festival season. With his estranged teenage daughter Ellie (Sadie Sink from “Stranger Things”), Fraser plays a reclusive obese teacher in “The Whale.” On December 9, the Darren Aronofsky-helmed movie opens in theaters.
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