Why Fraser won’t participate in Golden Globes

Brendan Fraser, whose performance in The Whale has made him a likely awards candidate this year, says he won’t attend the Golden Globes in January if he’s nominated.

In 2018, Fraser said that the was groped by longtime Hollywood Foreign Press Association member Philip Berk, a former president of the organisation behind the Globes. Fraser said the incident took place at a Beverly Hills, California, luncheon in 2003. Berk, a member from South Africa, was expelled from the HFPA last year after calling Black Lives Matter “a racist hate movement.”

Last year’s Golden Globes were all but cancelled 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 January 10 on NBC.

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 an cover story published 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,” Fraser added. “And my mother didn’t raise a hypocrite. You can call me a lot of things, but not that.”

—