It’s been very quiet on the Golden Globes front, but bombshell news from Brendan Fraser just put the HFPA back in the global media spotlight.
Fraser’s a prime contender for a lead actor Oscar for his, literally, heavyweight performance in A24’s THE WHALE. Playing a character who weighs around 600 pounds had Fraser wearing a heavy prosthetic suit for many hours daily throughout production.
It’s the kind of tour de force performance Oscar voters appreciate and that resonates especially well with the Academy’s acting branch. Fraser’s a safe bet to land noms across the awards board, but now that might not include the Globes.
Fraser said he’ll be a Globes no-show is bad news for the HFPA. If they don’t nominate him, they’re retaliating. If he gets a nom, he’s the elephant who’s not in the room. Everyone will know why he’s not there since he’s reminded us that in 2018 he said he’d been groped at a 2003 HFPA event by former president Philip Berk (who disputed the charge).
HFPA said in 2018 it was “against sexual harassment,” but kept Berk as a voting member after an investigation. It was Berk who then precipitated HFPA’s fall from grace in April 2021 by sending fellow members an article calling Black Lives Matter a “racist hate movement,” for which Berk was expelled.
If other actors & filmmakers emulate Fraser, NBC could wind up with an awards telecast without A-Listers to accept the awards.