Brendan Fraser says Golden Globes group dismissed his Me Too allegation as a 'joke'

Maria Puente | USA TODAY

It was just a joke?

Brendan Fraser still isn't laughing about what he says was his Me Too moment, when the then-president of the media organization that gives out the Golden Globes allegedly groped him at a Hollywood luncheon in 2003.

Fraser was shocked and angry then, and now he's even more miffed that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association has dismissed his complaint as merely a "joke" not "intended as a sexual advance."

All this comes to us via GQ, which reported on Fraser's allegation against HFPA's ex-president, Philip Berk, in a February profile of Fraser. In that interview, Fraser said the episode helped damage his well-being and his movie career.

Berk, who is still a member of the organization, has told GQ that Fraser's story is "a total fabrication.”

On Wednesday, in a new interview, the magazine reported that HFPA had completed an internal investigation of Fraser's allegation and proposed that the parties issue a joint statement that said, according to Fraser:

“Although it was concluded that Mr. Berk inappropriately touched Mr. Fraser, the evidence supports that it was intended to be taken as a joke and not as a sexual advance.”

Fraser says he declined to sign such a joint statement in part because HFPA wouldn't let him see the full report on its inquiry (as opposed to just a summary) nor its methodology for reaching its conclusions.

Fraser is not pleased. He told GQ he felt violated, regardless of the intention of his encounter with Berk.

“They’re kind of behaving like wolves in sheep’s clothing about it, saying, ‘Oh, we want him to heal.’ Well, the first step in that direction would be: What am I healing from? Can I please see this report? What is it?” Fraser told GQ.

Fraser's representative, Jennifer Plante, said Fraser would not comment further and referred USA TODAY to the GQ article.

In response to Fraser's objections, HFPA issued its own statement in an email to USA TODAY, declaring its "firm" opposition to sexual harassment.

"As such, we have always taken Brendan Fraser’s allegations very seriously — both when he originally spoke out in 2003 and now again 15 years later," its statement said.

Back in 2003, the statement says, the organization gave Fraser what he wanted: an acknowledgement of the "transgression" and an apology. Meanwhile, Fraser continued to attend HFPA events and the Golden Globes.

When Fraser raised his allegations again this year, in the wake of the mostly female-driven Me Too movement to call out sexual harassment and assault in Hollywood, he added "several previously unknown details," the HFPA statement said.

"We conducted an internal review and then took it upon ourselves to commission an independent investigation into the matter to ensure impartiality," the statement said. "We’ve shared the results of that investigation with Mr. Fraser, and again apologized, but also conveyed our need to abide by the investigation’s finding that the exchange was not an intended sexual advance.

"We want to reiterate that the HFPA understands today — as it did 15 years ago — that what Mr. Fraser experienced was inappropriate.”

So now what? Neither side is commenting, but Fraser told GQ he wants HFPA to seek Berk's ouster and to institute new policies on sexual harassment. But he isn't holding his breath.

"I think I'm just the first brick in the path. Maybe someone else will put another brick down and the path will continue on. I don't know. It's not too late. They can still do the right thing."