Brendan Fraser was a pillar of Hollywood in the 1990s with his dazzling good looks, charming
personality, and on-screen versatility.
Unfortunately, after a messy divorce, followed by financial and mental health struggles,
the actor quietly faded out of the limelight.
It seems as though no one knew the truth of what was really happening behind the scenes
of his marriage.
So, let's take a deep dive into the reason Brendan's marriage crumbled and why his ex-wife
accused him of fraud.
Brendan Fraser sparked a relationship with fellow actor Afton Smith shortly after meeting
her at Winona Ryder's house in 1993.
At the time, Fraser was still climbing up the Hollywood ladder, and he hadn't shot to
fame just yet.
There aren't too many details on when exactly he and Afton started dating, but we do know
that they hit things off pretty quickly after they met.
The couple dated for about five years and even co-starred in Brendan's breakout film,
George of the Jungle, in 1997.
As it turned out, that film was Afton's last movie credit as an actress.
The couple got married in 1998, and by then, Brendan's acting career was well on its way
to success.
The 1999 film release of The Mummy sent Fraser on his way to a Hollywood fortune, and after
the sequel, Fraser cemented his status as an action superstar.
Perhaps it was due to her ex-husband's success that Afton took a step back from her own acting
career.
However, it's not known why she never returned to acting after their split.
The couple welcomed their first son together in 2002, Griffin Arthur Fraser.
Two years later, they had another son, Holden Fletcher Fraser, and in 2006, their youngest
son was born, Leland Francis Fraser.
In an interview, Brendan spoke about how their oldest son was diagnosed with autism.
He shared, "Griffin's rated on the autism spectrum … So, he needs extra love in the
world, and he gets it.
And his brothers … ever since they were small, one was always the spokesperson, and
the other was the enforcer."
In 2007, seemingly out of nowhere, the couple filed for divorce.
Both Brendan and Afton were notoriously private throughout their marriage, so it's not fully
understood why they decided to split.
It's possible that because around that time, Fraser's career was beginning to slow down,
it took a toll on their marriage.
What's more, during the height of his career, in the early 2000s, Brendan was practically
taking on every film that was offered to him, and he would also do all the stunts on his
own movies.
As a result of this, the actor often ended up with many injuries to his body, some of
them even requiring surgery.
He had to have a partial knee replacement, surgery on his back, bolting various compressed
spinal pads together, and the list goes on.
At one point, he even needed to have his vocal cords repaired.
The constant travel to film to promote these movies, on top of doing all of his own stunts,
resulted in Fraser almost literally falling to pieces.
He says he spent seven years of the early 2000s in and out of the hospital.
So it's possible while there was a physical toll being taken on Brendan's body, that everything
also added pressure to his marriage.
What many people also don't know is that in 2003, Brendan was allegedly sexually assaulted
by Philip Berk, the former president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
According to Fraser, Berk went on to sexually fondle his backside during an event, violating
the actor and catching him completely off guard.
Berk later denied the allegations.
Brendan confessed, "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 … I felt like someone had thrown invisible paint on me."
So, it's no surprise that the incident threw Fraser into a deep depression, and the actor
credits it with the decline in
his career.
He sought out an apology from Berk after the incident, and the Association, however, "admitted
no wrongdoing."
Taking all these things into consideration, it's safe to say that behind closed doors,
Brendan's marriage must have been under a huge amount of strain.
Perhaps it was all too much, and the couple decided that it would be better for them to
be apart.
The couple released a joint statement after filing for divorce, stating that they "continue
to maintain a close and caring friendship."
Sadly, the divorce process was anything but amicable.
The divorce became a bitter financial battle between the two.
While they agreed to have shared custody over their three children, Afton demanded $900,000
in alimony and child support as they were all underage at the time of the split.
At first, Brendan agreed to pay the large sum and managed to make the payments for the
first few years.
As it turned out, he was only able to afford those payments thanks to his participation
in films such as "Journey to the Center of the Earth," "Furry Vengeance," and "Stand-Off."
However, because of the amount of money that was asked of him, his financial stability
took a heavy hit.
The actor was soon left "broke" and unable to fulfill payment obligations.
In 2013, Fraser's attorney filed a request for his alimony to be reduced as he couldn't
pay the annual obligation of $900,000 due to a severe back injury that he suffered while
trying to move a tree that fell on his home during Hurricane Sandy.
According to his legal representatives, his injury could impact his movie earnings potential
as he was advised not to perform his own stunts, which would significantly reduce the number
of roles he could land.
Afton was furious, and she did not consider his injury a valid excuse.
Determined to continue to receive the $900 000, she then accused her ex-husband of fraud,
claiming that he was hiding $9 million in film contracts when they settled the divorce
back in February 2009.
Fraser denied her allegations, claiming that he was set to earn $0 that year due to a lack
of incoming movie deals at the time.
He tried to explain that he wasn't making nearly as much money as he was during the
height of his career, which, as we all know, is true.
Sadly, while Smith's allegations ultimately went nowhere, Fraser took another hit to his
reputation.
He continued to receive only smaller film and TV roles for a number of years.
A year after the divorce was finalized, Fraser starred in box-office bomb Furry Vengeance,
which critics ripped apart and accused of having racist undertones.
We're not sure if Fraser was ever able to receive a cut in alimony.
However, we do know that he was ordered to pay $50,000 a month in alimony "until the
death of either party, the remarriage of the Wife, or until January 31, 2019" — meaning
that as of this writing, Fraser is currently freed from alimony payments after 10 years
of financial hardship.
It had clearly been a difficult decade for Fraser, and it seems that he truly battled
to keep himself together and his family afloat.
"I changed houses; I went through a divorce.
Some kids were born.
I mean, they were born, but they're growing up.
I was going through things that mold and shape you in ways that you're not ready for until
you go through them."
Thankfully, over the last couple of years, Brendan has made a comeback onto our screens
in both films and television.
Most notably, the actor voices Cliff Steele/Robotman in DC's "Doom Patrol."
He also has a number of upcoming films, such as 'Killers of the Flower Moon, 'Batgirl,'
and 'The Whale.'
The actor has received a huge amount of support during his comeback, so much so that Brendan
has been occasionally overwhelmed by the amount of love that he's received from his fans.
The ongoing comeback has even been dubbed a "Brenaissance."
As he's slowly made his way back into the world of acting, it's clear that he was very
missed, and the outpour of excitement and sort that he's gotten only proves that.
It's not uncommon for marriages to dwindle in Hollywood, but it is unfortunate when divorces
turn sour, and battles over finances turn ugly.
Thankfully, Brendan has been able to move on and leave the past behind him, and he focuses
on the exciting second act of his career.
There's no doubt that fans have been waiting for Fraser's return, and who knows, maybe
they'll even get another addition to The Mummy franchise.
Whatever the case may be, we're just glad that Brendan is in a better place and that
we get to see his face on our screens again!
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