Actor Brendan Fraser accused the former president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association of sexually assaulting him in 2003, the latest in a string of people to speak out in the #MeToo and Times Up movements.
Fraser described in an interview with GQ the moment that "overcame him with panic and fear."
According to Fraser, former HFPA President Phillip Berk assaulted him following a luncheon at the Beverly Hills Hotel.
"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.
Fraser said that the alleged assault left him feeling "ill," "like a little kid," and "like someone had thrown invisible paint on me." He says he didn't have the courage to speak out about it earlier because of the "risk of humiliation, or damage to my career.”
He said he asked for a written apology and that the HFPA set an agreement to never allow Fraser or Berk to be together in the same room again.
However, in an official statement Friday the HFPA stated that "the report included alleged information that the association had previously been unaware of" and that it "stands firmly against sexual harassment and type of behavior described in this article."
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Berk has continued to work with the HFPA, which the organization said was a "positive working relationship." In a recent statement with GQ, Berk called Fraser's story "a total fabrication." Berk claims he had written a letter to Fraser about the incident claiming that he had done no wrong.
"If I've done anything that upset Mr. Fraser, it was not intended," he said in the statement.
The HFPA said that it is investigating further details surrounding the incident.
