American actor Brendan Fraser starring in ‘The Whale’ has been hailed as the hit of this year’s awards season, and he himself is also a favorite for Best Actor in a Leading Role in major awards.
In a recent interview with GQ magazine, he said he would not attend the event even if he was nominated by Ballon d’Or because he had accused Philip Baker, the former chairman of Ballon d’Or, of sexually harassing him.
“No, I’m not going to participate. Because I they have a history of being unpleasant. And my mother didn’t raise me to be a hypocrite, you can label me all kinds of things, but I’m not a hypocrite.”
In an interview in 2018 Brendan spoke out about a psychological shadow that had plagued him for years. It turned out that in the summer of 2003, he had been sexually harassed by Philip Baker, the former president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which also hosts Ballon d’Or in the United States.
According to Brendan’s recollection, Baker took advantage of the chaos at the Press Association luncheon to touch his buttocks and put his hand down his pants and fumbled around. “I was so scared and aggravated, I felt like a little kid, it was like a ball in my throat, and I thought I was going to cry.”
At that time, Brendan did not choose to call the police, but left the party in anger, which made him unable to let go for a long time.
Although Brendan had the courage to complain to the Ballon d’Or Association years later, the result was a glib letter of apology from Baker that made light of his actions.
After 2003, Brendan did not receive an invitation to Ballon d’Or for many years. Ironically, it wasn’t until 2021 that Baker was removed from the association for discrimination against blacks, but not for sexual harassment.
