Golden Globes 2020: Christian Bale Backs out of Awards Show Due to Illness

Christian Bale is nominated at tonight’s Golden Globes but don’t expect to see him there in person to collect any potential award. According to E! News, Bale won’t attend to show or travel to Los Angeles due to an illness that has kept him grounded. The actual ailment wasn’t disclosed according to E! News but they do point at flu season and the status of awards shows as winter staples.

Bale is nominated for Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama for his performance in Ford v Ferrari. The American Psycho actor is up against Antonio Banderas for Pain and Glory; Adam Driver for Marriage Story; Joaquin Phoenix for Joker; and Jonathan Pryce for The Two Popes.

Bale is a two-time winner at the Golden Globes, walking away with the award last year for his role as Dick Cheney in Vice and back in 2011 for The FIghter, for which he also won an Oscar. Bale won’t be alone in skipping out on the Golden Globes. Actress Octavia Spencer also canceled on attending due to an illness, sharing the news on Instagram along with a look at how she would’ve looked on the red carpet.

“Well, since she won’t be worn to the [Globes] tonight because someone (uh me) is congested, coughing and in full blown sweat mode….We thought we’d wish all nominees the best time tonight especially first timers!!!”

Australian actor and nominee for The Loudest Voice, Russell Crowe, will also not be in attendance at the awards. Instead of illness, his absence is due to the ongoing devastation and firefighting efforts in Australia against the ongoing wildfires.

Several celebrities made the move to raise awareness and donate to the battle against the wildfires in Australia over the weekend, with Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban being two of the most prevalent to do so. The couple pledged $500,000 to the efforts, matching pop star Pink’s donation. The pair also made headlines due to their emotional arrival at a pre-Golden Globes party after receiving news that their home was under threat of burning down due to the wildfires.

While Kidman hasn’t stated whether she’ll skip the awards to go home at this point, the fires were clearly on her mind during the red carpet at Saturday night’s event.

“I’m so sorry,” Kidman told a report. “I’m so distracted right now with everything that’s happening in Australia.”

The 77th Annual Golden Globe Awards ceremony airs live at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.