Golden Globes: Christian Bale Out Sick, Russell Crowe to Stay in Australia Amid Fires

By Cynthia Littleton

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Christian Bale and Russell Crowe are among the Golden Globe Award nominees who will not make the ceremony at the Beverly Hilton tonight because real life intervened.

Crowe, nommed for his work as Roger Ailes in the Showtime miniseries “The Loudest Voice,” opted to remain in his native Australia. The actor has property in the country that is gravely threatened by wildfires raging in Australia. The magnitude of the destruction has spurred calls from the industry to do more to address the issue of climate change, which is seen as a cause of the severe firestorms that have also enveloped areas of Southern and Northern California in recent years.

Sources exclusively tell Variety that Bale, nominated for his work as race car driver Ken Miles in “Ford v Ferarri,” is unable to make it to the Hilton because he has come down with a bad case of the flu. The British actor, who lives in Los Angeles, was out of the country on vacation for the holidays when he became ill. A source close to the situation said the actor was advised that he should not fly for medical reasons.

The 77th Golden Globes, hosted by Ricky Gervais, airs live on NBC at 8 pm. ET/5 p.m. PST.