) Brendan Fraser has come forward with his very own story of sexual abuse in Hollywood. According to his own statements, he was sexually abused by Philip Berk, the former president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (the organization behind the Golden Globes).
In an interview with “GQ”, the actor describes the incident from 2003. When they met each other and wanted to shake hands, Berk grabbed his butt and tried to get his fingers as deep as he could. “He started moving his finger further and further.”
Was Brendan Fraser blacklisted?
The actor felt deeply offended after this encounter and rushed home where he told his wife. However, Fraser subsequently decided not to make the harassment public. “I didn’t want to flirt with how it made me feel,” he said. Nevertheless, he confronted the Hollywood Foreign Press Association with the accusation.
Berk later wrote a letter of apology to Fraser (“If I did anything to upset Mr. Fraser, it was not intentional and I apologize”) and, according to Fraser, the HFPA promised that he and Berk would never be in the same room together again would.
Brendan Fraser suffered from depression
However, the alleged attack had an impact: Fraser said he became “depressed” and gradually withdrew from the film business. Apparently the film industry did the same and withdrew from him, but Fraser wondered if he had been put on some kind of blacklist by the HFPA.
Fraser, who was a star in the ’90s and early 2000s, was rarely invited to the Golden Globes after 2003. His career faded. In recent years he has almost only played supporting roles. Berk, however, remains a member of the HFPA and, according to GQ, denied that he could be responsible for Fraser’s career downturn.