Junk Explained: Why Brendan Fraser Is Boycotting The Golden Globes

If there’s one thing Australians love, it’s an underdog. Which probably explains our perennial love for Brendan Fraser.

After numerous roles in action movies like The Mummy and George of the Jungle, Brendan Fraser has proven industry naysayers wrong by becoming one of the hottest contenders around this Oscar season via his portrayal of a clinically overweight man in Darren Aronofsky’s  The Whale.

But as punters calculate Fraser’s odds of cleaning up in next year’s awards season, the actor has already ruled out appearing at the 2023 Golden Globe Awards.

Speaking with GQ, Fraser flatly dismissed the idea of attending the official awards ceremony, citing bad blood with the hosts of the event the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA).

“I have more history with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association than I have respect for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association,” Fraser told GQ.

“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.”

At the height of the #MeToo movement, Fraser called out the former president of the HFPA Philip Berk for allegedly sexually assaulting him while at an official luncheon with the association.

“I felt ill. I felt like a little kid. I felt like there was a ball in my throat. I thought I was going to cry,” Fraser said.

The actor also described his initial reaction to the viral movement to revive Fraser’s popularity online, leading #brendanfraser to trend on Twitter after users shared heartwarming clips of Fraser’s cinematic history en mass.

“I was like, Oh, my God. Oh, fuck, what have I done now?” Fraser said after discovering his name was trending.

“And it was people saying they like me…I was like, Is this good, is this problematic? I don’t know. What did I do to earn this?”

The Whale release in Australia on February 2nd.