Brendan Fraser Loses Golden Globe for ‘The Whale’ After Protesting Event
Brendan Fraser lost at the Golden Globes on Tuesday night for his performance in The Whale. The actor was up for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association award for Best Actor in a Drama Motion Picture, but was beaten out for the trophy by Elvis star Austin Butler. Fraser famously declined to attend the event after he accused the organization’s former president Philip Berk of groping him in 2003.
“I cannot believe I’m here right now. I just want to thank the Hollywood Foreign Press for this honor. I want to also say to my fellow nominees: you have turned in the most beautiful, profound work, and I am so honored and proud to be listed among you,” offered Butler during his acceptance speech.
Fraser told GQ in November that he would “not participate” in the awards show due to his history with the voting body of the coveted trophy.
“I have more history with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association than I have respect for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association,” Fraser said. “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.”
Back in 2018, the HFPA investigated Fraser’s claims against Berk and found that “Berk inappropriately touched Mr. Fraser,” but that “evidence supports that it was intended to be taken as a joke and not as a sexual advance.” The HFPA, which didn’t have any Black voting members until 2021, expelled Berk in 2021 for remarks he made about Black Lives Matter.
Fraser said he would consider returning to the awards show if significant changes were made to the organization.
“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,” Fraser told GQ. “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. I don’t know what that is. But that would be my hope. But it’s not about me.”
Fraser already won the Toronto International Film Festival’s Tribute Award for his role in Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale. He is also among the frontrunners to win Best Actor at the 2023 Academy Awards on March 12.
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Tomás Mier, Khareem Sudlow
