Award favorite Brendan Fraser ‘will not participate’ in the 2023 Golden Globes

Brendan Fraser, a favorite to win an award for his performance in “The Whale,” says he does not plan to attend the 2023 Golden Globe Awards.

“I have more history with the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. than I have respect for the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn.,” Fraser told GQ in a cover story after he was asked if would attend the show if invited. “No, I will not participate.”

He said he won’t attend “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.

In a separate GQ interview from 2018, Fraser alleged that former longtime president of the HFPA Phil Berk had sexually assaulted him in 2003 at a luncheon at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

“His left hand reaches around, grabs my ass cheek, and one of his fingers touches me in the taint. And he starts moving it around,” Fraser told the magazine.

Fraser, 53, maintains that the HFPA, which hosts the Golden Globe Awards, did not apologize for the incident. The association told GQ it had apologized twice. Berk, 89, who recalled the groping incident in his 2014 memoir as a joke, wrote a letter of apology to Fraser, but did not admit to wrongdoing.

The Golden Globes is set to make its television return to NBC in January. The network had dumped the show after a Los Angeles Times investigation raised questions about the group’s ethical and financial lapses and revealed that not one of the then-87 members was Black.

In 2021, Berk, who spent eight terms as HFPA president, drew criticism for sending an email that called Black Lives Matter “a racist hate movement” and described co-founder Patrisse Cullors as “the self-proclaimed ‘trained Marxist.’” He was expelled from the group within hours after NBC called for his removal and a day after the publishing of a Times report on the email.

Following the revelations, powerful publicists boycotted the organization and studios including Netflix and WarnerMedia cut ties.

The 2022 awards show was held in a private ceremony at the Beverly Hilton.

Fraser is viewed as a potential lock for a nomination for actor in a motion picture drama, and among the favorites to win the award for his performance in “The Whale,” which received acclaim and buzz among critics and fans who heralded “The Mummy” actor’s comeback.

In Darren Aronofsky’s drama from A24, Fraser wore prosthetics and makeup to play a 600-pound recluse who tries to connect with his estranged daughter. “The Whale” is based on Samuel D. Hunter’s play of the same name.

The film received a six-minute standing ovation after its premiere at the Venice Film Festival in September. Video posted on social media shows Fraser sobbing as the credits rolled, then standing to address the audience, which was clapping and cheering.

The Golden Globes have historically been pivotal in building momentum during awards season leading up to the Academy Awards. Fraser told GQ that he plans to participate in the rest of the awards campaign for the film.

“I owe it to myself. I owe it to the filmmakers,” Fraser said. “I know I owe it to those fans who paid to come and see me and stand in line in the sun and, you know, all of that. I owe it to my kids. This is my shot.”