Brendan Fraser says he has no plans to attend the Golden Globes even though he’s nominated for his much-publicized turn in The whale.
As part of his Man of the Year cover story with GQ magazinetells the actor about his life since then he said in 2018 that former Hollywood Foreign Press Association member Philip Berk – who was kicked out of the organization behind the Golden Globes in 2021 for comments about the Black Lives Matter movement – had groped him.
The actor admits that he “felt a little heart palpitation discussing this,” adding that talking about his experience can still trigger him, “but it’s okay because I hope at this point in my life and career I can be recognized.” my professional endeavors, instead of the trope of the comeback boy as a standard in culture, sports, come from behind, get written off and then come back.
During the discussion, the Whale star – who is receiving awards for his portrayal of the reclusive English teacher trying to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter – also shares how his awards campaign season would be affected by his relationship with the HFPA, which he noted had not improved since he joined pronounced .
“I have more history with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association than I have respect for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association,” Fraser says when asked if he would be involved in a Golden Globes ceremony if nominated. “No, I’m not participating.”
“It’s because of the history I have with them. And my mother didn’t raise a hypocrite. You can call me anything, but nothing,” he adds.
When asked about the organization’s reaction, or lack thereof, when he talked about his experience with Berk, Fraser said the Globes probably went ahead with that year’s awards show “because it was too prickly or too sharp or too embarrassing for people to want to go to.” and invest emotionally in the situation.”
It was a response the actor says he expected, despite issuing a statement later that year urging Berk to step down. “I knew they would close ranks,” he explains. “I knew they would kick the can on the road. I knew they would get ahead of the story. I knew I certainly had no future with that system as it was.”
That has left him with little confidence in the HFPA’s proposed reforms, including expanded membership and new rules on accepting gifts, after the 2022 Globes ceremony was a low-key, untelevised affair. “Maybe time will tell if they’re going…I don’t know what they’re going to do,” says Fraser. “I don’t know.”
During the interview, Fraser also addresses the events that followed his accusation, including an investigation and a statement from the HFPA, which recently became embroiled in controversy following a 2021 Los Angeles Times research accused the group of self-dealing and other unethical behavior including taking bribes. That report also included the revelation that the HFPA, then made up of 87 international journalists, had no black members.
Following the publication of Fraser’s interview in 2018, the HFPA issued a statement that it was “against sexual harassment and the type of behavior described,” before proceeding with an investigation, with an independent investigator interviewing the actor. As a result, while the organization determined that the incident Fraser reported had occurred, it “concluded that Mr. Berk touched Mr. Fraser inappropriately, supports the evidence that it was intended as a joke and not a sexual advance. ”
At the time, Fraser was asked to sign the press release as a joint statement, but declined. Berk — a 44-year-old member and eight-time president of the group who was eventually expelled in April 2021 after emailing an article to his fellow members describing Black Lives Matter as a “racist hate movement” — told GK that he had not received any disciplinary action from the organization.
Fraser claims the organization never apologized to him for what happened, though the HFPA disputes this, telling the magazine it has apologized twice. (Berk said GK in 2018 that he sent a letter to Fraser but admitted “not committing any wrongdoing”. it and make a decision at that point, if that became the situation.
“And it should be, I don’t know, what’s the word I’m looking for… sincere? I would like a gesture to somehow make medicine out of poison. I do not know what that is. But that would be my hope,” says Fraser. “I would expect it to be something that would be meaningful to them as well.”
While Fraser has no plans to campaign for the Globes or attend the 2023 ceremony, which is scheduled for Jan. 10 after not airing on NBC last year following the ethics investigation and a Hollywood boycott, Fraser is still watching looking forward to the rest of the awards. season, including an Oscars run.
“I owe it to myself. I owe it to the filmmakers. I know I owe it to those fans who paid to come see me and line up in the sun and, you know, that everything. I owe it to my children,” he says. “This is my chance.”
