It all links back to a revelation made in 2018, when Fraser told GQ that Philip Berk, former president and member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association—which runs the Golden Globes—groped and assaulted the actor at a Beverly Hills Hotel luncheon in 2003. Berk denied the accusation, but Fraser told the publication that the assault “made [him] retreat,” as it felt like “something had been taken away from [him].” After the allegations were made public, the HFPA issued a statement, saying, “The HFPA stands firmly against sexual harassment and the type of behavior described in this article.” They launched an inquiry, but came back suggesting that, while Berk was found to have touched Fraser inappropriately, it was intended as a joke. Berk held onto his status as a voting member and was not made to face any disciplinary action, and nothing changed. In 2021, the HFPA was revealed to have no Black members through an investigation by the Los Angeles Times. It also uncovered allegations of ethical and financial conflicts between members of the organization. As a result, studios and PR firms throughout Hollywood separated themselves from the HFPA, and Berk was eventually expelled in April of that year for his stance on the Black Lives Matter movement. NBC chose not to broadcast the awards ceremony in 2022 but agreed to bring the show back after some serious reform within the organization. After his lauded comeback performance in The Whale, Fraser is expected to be a favorite this award season and earned his first Golden Globe nomination for 2023, Fraser says there’s too much history to attend. “I have more history with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association than I have respect for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association,” he told GQ in a new interview. “No, I will not participate.” He continued, “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.” For now, Fraser said it’s too early to tell if the steps the HFPA has taken in the last year or more than just show. The association has yet to offer him an apology (according to him—they say they’ve done so twice) for what they’ve put him through. Fraser said that if they did look to make amends, the apology would need to be sincere. “I would want some gesture of making medicine out of poison somehow. I don’t know what that is. But that would be my hope,” he said, adding that it would need to be meaningful to all the organization has wronged and not just him. Next, find out how fans reacted to Brendan Fraser’s transformation for The Whale.
