Brendan Fraser to skip Golden Globes after accusing Philip Berk of sexual assault
Brendan Fraser intends to skip Golden Globes 2023 despite likely receiving a nomination for his work in the forthcoming film “The Whale.”
Fraser said in his GQ cover story that he “will not participate” in the awards show after he claimed former Hollywood Foreign Press Association President Philip Berk sexually assaulted him.
“I have more history with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association than I have respect for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association,” he added, referencing the organization that runs the annual show.
“It’s because of the history that I have with them. And my mother didn’t raise a hypocrite. You can call me a lot of things, but not that,” Fraser said.
The “Mummy” star, 53, previously claimed in 2018 that Berk, 89, sexually assaulted him during a luncheon at the Beverly Hills Hotel in 2003 and caused him to be blacklisted from Hollywood.
“His left hand reaches around, grabs my ass cheek, and one of his fingers touches me in the taint,” Fraser claimed of what was meant to be a handshake. “And he starts moving it around.”
Fraser told GQ that the alleged incident left him “ill” and traumatized.
“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.”
Berk, however, called Fraser’s claims “a total fabrication.”
After the “George of the Jungle” star came forward with his allegation, the HFPA launched an investigation, which later dismissed his groping as a “joke.”
“Although it was concluded that Mr. Berk inappropriately touched Mr. Fraser, the evidence supports that it was intended to be taken as a joke and not as a sexual advance,” a statement from the HFPA read.
The HFPA expelled Berk in 2021 after emailing an article to fellow members that described Black Lives Matter as a “racist hate movement.”