After accused Philip Berk, the former head of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, of assaulting him at a lunch in Beverly Hills in 2013, Brendan Fraser has decided not to attend the Golden Globes the following year.
The Canadian-American actor provided a response in a GQ interview when asked if, if invited, he would attend the Oscars.
“I have more history with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association than I have respect for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association,” Fraser said. “No, I will not participate. 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 clarified how that incident was one of the causes of Berk’s disappearance from Hollywood after confirming the charge against him in an earlier GQ interview. Fraser was a well-known actor before he withdrew, featuring in blockbuster films including George of the Jungle and The Mummy trilogy.
Fraser remembered getting a letter of apology from Berk in 2018 that stated “no wrongdoing.”
“If the HFPA did attempt to make amends, according to rules of engagement, it would be my responsibility to take a look at it and make a determination at that time, if that became the situation,” Frasier said. “And it would have to be, I don’t know, what’s the word I’m looking for… sincere ? I would want some gesture of making medicine out of poison somehow.”