Brendan Fraser Says Former Hollywood Foreign Press Association President Assaulted Him

Brendan Fraser became the latest actor to speak out about his own #MeToo experience this week as Hollywood continues to address its problems with sexual assault and harassment.

In an interview with GQ published Thursday, Fraser said that he was groped in 2003 by Philip Berk, a former president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), the organization that hosts the Golden Globes. The incident took place at a luncheon hosted by the association, and Fraser alleges that when Berk reached out to shake his hand, the man instead grabbed Fraser’s butt.

“His left hand reaches around, grabs my ass cheek, and one of his fingers touches me in the taint. And he starts moving it around,” Fraser told GQ, adding that he felt overwhelmed with panic and fear.

Fraser then said he removed Berk’s hand and immediately left the event.

“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,” he told the magazine.

The actor said he told his then-wife, Afton Smith, about the incident, but did not speak publicly about it until this week. “I didn’t want to contend with how that made me feel, or it becoming part of my narrative,” he told GQ.


 
Source: Yahoo News