Brendan Fraser said he will not attend the Golden Globes awards ceremony even if he is nominated. The iconic actor got his big break in a series of comedy films from the early 2000s, including Encino Man, Blast from the Past, and George of the Jungle. Before long, he was splitting time between those projects and action tentpoles like The Mummy and Journey to the Center of the Earth. More recently, he has appeared in series like Showtime's The Affair in addition to a major role in the scrapped Batgirl film from DC Studios.
GQ ran a feature story on Fraser after announcing him as their Comeback of the Year. During their conversation, the Doom Patrol actor revealed that he will not be attending next year's Golden Globes ceremony if he is nominated for Best Actor for his new film The Whale. He said that he has more history than respect for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the organization that votes for the awards and hosts the ceremony, and that "my mother didn’t raise a hypocrite." Read his full quote below:
I have more history with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association than I have respect for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. 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.
Why Brendan Fraser Won't Go To The Golden Globes
The Golden Globes have had a complicated past few years due to various controversies swirling around the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Over the past decades, the organization has repeatedly been called out for reportedly allowing its members to be essentially bribed by gifts, trips, and parties where they can hobnob with the nominees. However, last year a new boycott surfaced when it was reported that the membership of the organization included no Black journalists. This led to the awards not being televised at all in 2021, and the organization issued a statement sharing its plan for reforming its voting body that was due to be completed this August.
However, Fraser has a more personal connection with the dark side of the HFPA. Several years ago, in a tell-all interview, he alleged that former HFPA president Philip Berk groped and assaulted him at a Beverly Hills Hotel luncheon in 2003, which Berk has since denied. Last year, Berk was expelled from the HFPA due to using racist language in an internal email, but before that, he was a member of the organization for 44 years. Fraser reports that the former president's misconduct has affected his life in a myriad of ways, making it a natural assumption that the actor would not desire to attend the Golden Globes even after his expulsion.
Brendan Fraser Is This Year's Best Actor Frontrunner For The Whale
Brendan Fraser revealing his intention not to attend the Golden Globes could have huge ramifications for this year's awards season. The actor is currently the year's leading frontrunner for Oscar consideration due to his performance in the Darren Aronofsky film The Whale, in which he plays a man with an eating disorder. It seems incredibly likely that he will be nominated for a Golden Globe for the performance as well and perhaps even win in absentia, which could draw even more public attention to the issues surrounding the HFPA.
Source: GQ