Drew Barrymore is sticking up for actor Hugh Grant amid his Academy Awards 2023 interview backlash with model Ashley Graham.
Grant, 62, was interviewed by Graham on the Oscars red carpet, where many viewers noticed that he gave short answers back to her and seemingly rolled his eyes after it wrapped.
When Graham asked the “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” actor what he was wearing, he simply replied, “My suit.”
His awkward interview prompted criticism among many — including Piers Morgan.
However, Barrymore, 48, had some insight to share in defense of Grant during Friday’s episode of her talk show, “The Drew Barrymore Show.”
“I swear, if you know Hugh, like, that is his way of loving you,” Barrymore said during the episode. “I swear, okay, so it’s funny, too, because there’s this thing going around with him and Ashley Graham on the red carpet, and people are like, he’s such a curmudgeon and she’s so thrown.”
Drew Barrymore defended Hugh Grant’s character after his viral interview with Ashley Graham at the 2023 Oscars red carpet. WireImage for Variety MagazineThe talk show host continued, “No, that is Hugh Grant. You think you’re getting this charming movie star and what you really get is grumpy Hugh and then you fall in love with grumpy Hugh. When he says that, I’m telling you, he is being absolutely funny, he doesn’t mean one negative thing about it.”
She added that the actor Graham encountered on the red carpet is the “real” Hugh and proceeded to call him a “hilarious, good human being.”
The Post reached out to both Barrymore and Grant’s reps for comment.
The actor faced backlash after his interview with Ashley Graham on the Oscars red carpet, as some thought he gave her short answers. FilmMagicHer response came as she was initially asked about his comment about her singing in the 2007 film they starred in together, called “Music and Lyrics,” where he recently said that she had a “horrendous” singing voice.
“Drew Barrymore was in that film with me, and I don’t think she’d mind me saying her singing is just horrendous. I’ve heard dogs bark better than she sings,” Grant said about his former costar during an interview with Wired this week.
Barrymore also took to her Instagram page to share a funny comeback to Grant’s comments about her singing.
In the video she posted, Barrymore sang the song from the movie into a hairbrush, writing in the caption, “#SingForHughGrant JOIN ME.”
Since his appearance at the 2023 Oscars, Grant hasn’t spoken publicly about his encounter with Graham.
He appeared on the “The View” just a few days later, but wasn’t asked about the red carpet — something that the talk show’s hosts were slammed for on social media.
Grant appeared on “The View” a few days after the Oscars, and wasn’t asked about his interview with Graham. WireImage for Vanity Fair Graham, however, did have something to say when asked about it by TMZ.
“You know what, my mama told me to kill people with kindness, so there you go,” the model said.
