Drew Barrymore. Sara Jaye Weiss/Shutterstock
The grumpy to her sunshine. Drew Barrymore came to Hugh Grant’s defense after the actor received negative backlash for his recent interview with Ashley Graham.
“People are like, ‘Oh, he’s such a curmudgeon and she’s so thrown.’ I’m like, ‘No, that is Hugh Grant,’” the Charlie’s Angels star, 48, stated on the Friday, March 17, episode of The Drew Barrymore Show. “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. The person that Ashley Graham met on that carpet is the real Hugh.”
Hugh Grant, Drew Barrymore. Castle Rock Ent/Warner Bros/Kobal/Shutterstock
Barrymore and Grant, 62, starred opposite each other in the 2007 rom-com Music and Lyrics. Though her cohost Ross Mathews noted that former costar called her a “horrendous” singer during a recent interview, Barrymore — who shares daughters Olive, 10, and Frankie, 8, with ex-husband Will Kopelman — noted that things that sound like insults from the Notting Hill star are actually his way of displaying affection. “If you know Hugh, that is his way of loving you,” she explained.
Graham, 35, interviewed the Bridget Jones’ Diary star during ABC’s Academy Awards-pre show on Sunday, March 12. When asked what his favorite part of the awards ceremony was, Grant called the evening a “vanity fair,” which the model interpreted as a reference to Vanity Fair’s 2023 Oscars afterparty, not the phrase which means “a scene or place characterized by frivolity and ostentation,” as defined by Meriam Webster.
Drew Barrymore and Hugh Grant. Dave Allocca/Starpix/Shutterstock
Things only got more awkward after that, as the Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves actor gave one-word and short answers for the remainder of the interview.
Barrymore was not surprised by the Love, Actually star’s red carpet behavior, as she recalled him being a tough cookie to crack on the set of Music and Lyrics. “It took me a second, probably like Ashley Graham on the carpet, like, ‘Who am I dealing with?’ And then, I was like, ‘Oh no, I love you. I wanna love you. You’re not letting me love you,’” the 50 First Dates star shared. “And then, as I got to know him, I was like, ‘I do love you. I love you for the real you.’ And he is a hilarious, good human being.”
Graham — who shares son Isaac, 3, and twins Malachi and Roman, 2, with husband Justin Ervin — addressed the drama herself the following day, telling TMZ, “You know what? My mama told me to kill people with kindness, so there you go.”
She went on to note that the interview didn’t stop her from having a good night. “I had so much fun,” Graham added. “My feet hurt, though.”