Brendan Fraser, 54, is sticking it to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association by skipping the 2023 Golden Globe Awards on January 10. The actor is actually nominated for his first-ever Globe this year, for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama for his critically acclaimed performance in The Whale. But Brendan’s already confirmed he’s not attending the award show because of his complicated history with the HFPA, who host the Globes and vote on the nominees and winners.
“It’s because of the history that I have with them. And my mother didn’t raise a hypocrite,” he said in GQ’s 2022 Men of the Year issue. “You can call me a lot of things, but not that,” Brendan added.
Brendan’s drama with the Globes stems from when he was allegedly sexually assaulted and groped by former HFPA president Philip Berk at a 2003 luncheon at the Beverly Hills Hotel. The George of the Jungle star faded away from the spotlight after the alleged incident, because he felt “something had been taken away from me.” 15 years later, Brendan opened up about what happened at the luncheon to GQ journalist Zach Baron in a February 2018 interview titled “What Ever Happened To Brendan Fraser?”
“I felt ill,” Brendan said. “I felt like a little kid. I felt like there was a ball in my throat. I thought I was going to cry. I felt like someone had thrown invisible paint on me,” he added. Brendan claimed that he rushed out of the room and told his then-wife, Afton Smith, about what happened when he got home. But he never went public with details about the alleged incident until the GQ interview because he “didn’t want to contend with how that made me feel, or it becoming part of my narrative.”
Berk denied and disputed Brendan’s claims and remained HFPA president until his firing in April 2021, after he promoted an article that called the Black Lives Matter movement a “racist hate movement.” According to Brendan, Berk wrote a letter to the actor when he came forward about the alleged incident that read, “My apology admitted no wrongdoing, the usual ‘If I’ve done anything that upset Mr. Fraser, it was not intended and I apologize.’ ” Brendan told GQ he became “depressed” after Berk’s denial. “I was blaming myself and I was miserable—because I was saying, ‘This is nothing; this guy reached around and he copped a feel.’ That summer wore on—and I can’t remember what I went on to work on next,” he said.
The HFPA is no stranger to controversy. In 2021, a Los Angeles Times investigation noted that the HFPA had no Black members and that there were “numerous allegations of ethical and financial conflicts,” per GQ. NBC ultimately pulled the broadcast, and the 2022 Golden Globes were held without any televised coverage. But the Globes are back this year and Brendan is up for one of the biggest awards of the night. His fellow Best Actor nominees include Austin Butler for Elvis, Hugh Jackman for The Son, Bill Nighy for Living, and Jeremy Pope for The Inspection.
Before Brendan scored his first Golden Globe nomination on December 12, the Crash star confirmed that he’s not attending the ceremony. “I have more history with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association than I have respect for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association,” Brendan said in the GQ 2022 Men of the Year issue, adding, “No, I will not participate.” When asked if he believes any of the HFPA’s promised reforms after their diversity scandal, Brendan told GQ, “At the moment, no. Maybe time will tell if they’re going to…I don’t know what they’re going to do. I don’t know.” The Mummy star also claimed that the HFPA still hasn’t apologized for the alleged 2003 sexual assault incident.
Brendan could still win the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama, even though he won’t even be at the ceremony. Brendan’s performance in The Wale, where he plays an obese man trying to reconnect with his daughter, played by Sadie Sink, is poised to earn him his first Academy Award nomination, which will be announced on January 24. That means there’s a good chance we’ll be seeing Brendan at the 2023 Oscars!