Actor Brendan Fraser has said he was sexually assaulted by a Hollywood heavyweight in the middle of a crowded room at a party.

The Mummy actor claims he was blacklisted from Hollywood after Philip Berk, a former president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the organisation that hosts the Golden Globes, groped him.

Mr Fraser told GQ he became a recluse after the alleged incident, which Mr Berk denies.

In his memoirs, Mr Berk admitted to pinching Mr Fraser, 49, on the bottom at the party, but the actor said Mr Berk went much further, touching him inappropriately.

Mr Fraser said he was "overcome with panic and fear" at the time.

"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," he told GQ.

The incident left Mr Fraser "depressed" and believing he had deserved it.

"I was blaming myself and I was miserable-because I was saying, 'This is nothing; this guy reached around and he copped a feel.' That summer wore on-and I can't remember what I went on to work on next."

The actor said he was not invited back the Golden Globes after 2003 and implies his career suffered as a result of the incident.

"I don't know if this curried disfavor with the group, with the HFPA. But the silence was deafening," he said.

Mr Berk apologised in a letter to Mr Fraser about the encounter, but said, "My apology admitted no wrongdoing, the usual 'If I've done anything that upset Mr. Fraser, it was not intended and I apologise.' "

In an email, Mr Berk, who is still an HFPA member, told GQ "Mr. Fraser's version is a total fabrication."

Mr Fraser is the latest celebrity to speak out as part of the #MeToo movement which is highlighting sexual assault and harassment, particularly in the workplace.

The #MeToo movement become a worldwide trend on Twitter after women were asked to share their experiences of sexually harassment or assault.

The hashtag was posted thousands of times in a bid to show just how big the problem is in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein allegations.

US actress Alyssa Milano started it after a suggestion from a friend.

She wrote on Twitter: "If all the women who have been sexually harassed or assaulted wrote 'Me too' as a status, we might give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem."

Stars at last weekend's Bafta Film Awards wore black on the red carpet to show their support for the Time's Up and #MeToo campaigns.