Philip Berk
Philip Berk
Image of Philip Berk that he has shared on his Facebook.
Philip Berk is an South African Journalist and former president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association who has been ousted by Brendan Fraser after her revealed he was molested by Berk at an event.
Biography
Berk was born and raised in the country of South African. He grew up in the town of Cape Town and would eventually leave to live in California where he has resided since. [1]
Career
Front book cover of Philip Berk's memoir.
While living in Los Angeles, California and graduated from his studies, he became a freelance Journalist for several different publications related to the entertainment industry. He also wrote for the B'nai B'rith Messenger which is currently the Los Angeles Jewish Journal.
He has also worked for the Los Angeles Unified School District and was an educator who supervising award winning programs in cinema.
He worked for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for many years before becoming its president for a year in May of 2005. He currently writes for publications in Malaysia and South Africa. He has chaired the jury at the Guadalajara Film Festival, Hawaian Film festival, and the Bahamas Film Festival.
He remains a member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
In The Media
Sexual Harassment
Close-up photo of Philip Berk that has been shared by the news media.
While attending an event took place at the Beverly Hills Hotel in the summer of 2003, he Sexually harassed Brendan Fraser. Both present at the event, Berk admits that he groped Fraser at the Gala in his memoir. [1] The part in the book in which Berk admits to the deed led to a controversy with Hollywood Foreign Press Association who suspended for six months in 2014.
In an interview that was released on February 21st, 2018, Brendan Fraser opens up about the incident to GQ Magazine. Fraser admits that the incident made
him feel uncomfortable and ill.
He immediately left the Gala and went home to hi wife who he discussed what happened.
He says to GQ:
"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.
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.
At the time, Fraser didn't feel it was appropriate to open about the sexual harassment done to him to the media as it would affect his career.
Fraser did not go public but did contact the Hollywood Foreign Press Association about the incident, and rarely got invited to their events after.
Since the time of the interview with Fraser, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association has offered a statement regarding the sexual harassment incident with the following:
“The HFPA stands firmly against sexual harassment and the type of behavior described in this article...
Over the years we’ve continued a positive working relationship with Brendan, which includes announcing Golden Globe nominees, attending the ceremony and participating in press conferences.
This report includes alleged information that the HFPA was previously unaware of and at this time we are investigating further details surrounding the incident.”
Berk remains a member of the HFPA.