Oscars viewers slam ‘jerk’ Hugh Grant for his ‘rude’ red carpet interview with Ashley Graham

Viewers who watched ABC’s red carpet coverage ahead of the 95th Academy Awards on Sunday caught what was perhaps the cringiest moment of the night: Ashley Graham’s interview with Hugh Grant.

The interview started off well enough. Graham, who co-hosted ABC’s “On The Red Carpet Live: Countdown to Oscars 95″ with Vanessa Hudgens and Lilly Singh, first asked Grant why he enjoys the Oscars. “It’s fascinating,” a characteristically stammering Grant replied. “The whole of humanity is here. It’s ‘Vanity Fair.’”

Hugh Grant presents the award for best production design at the Oscars on Sunday, March 12, 2023, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Chris Pizzello/Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

Graham, apparently mistaking that William Makepeace Thackeray reference for a mention of the Vanity Fair after-party, said, “Yes, that’s where we let loose and have a little bit of fun.”

The model then asked if Grant was rooting for a nominee that night, and the London native said, “No one in particular.”

So Graham asked Grant who he was wearing. “Just my suit,” Grant said.

Graham then pivoted and asked the 62-year-old about his role in the 2022 film “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.”

“Well, I’m barely in it,” Grant replied. “I’m in it for about three seconds.”

Ashley Graham arrives at the Oscars on Sunday, March 12, 2023, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Jordan Strauss/Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Graham, undeterred, speculated that Grant at least had to have had fun with the cameo. “Almost,” the actor replied.

Seemingly tired of hitting a brick wall, Graham then told Grant it was “nice” to talk to him and threw the telecast back to her co-hosts as Grant raised his eyebrows and started moving away.

On Twitter, viewers called Grant “rude” and praised Graham for forging ahead.

“I thought Hugh Grant was being a real ‘horse’s ass’ to Ashley Graham…he didn’t answer one question with any grace or humility…he was just being a jerk,” one viewer tweeted.

Another user asked, “Why does Hugh Grant even walk the red (champagne) carpet if he is going to be an a-hole? He knows he is apt to be interviewed. Or did the pompous Brit actor think Ashley Graham was beneath him?”

Host Jimmy Kimmel drops onto stage by parachute at the Oscars on Sunday, March 12, 2023, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Chris Pizzello/Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

#OscarsSoWhite creator April Reign tweeted that she didn’t understand Grant’s behavior. “If you don’t want to be interviewed, don’t take the mic, smile politely and keep walking,” Reign wrote. “Kudos to @ashleygraham for trying repeatedly to get something interesting out of him.”

The “Paddington 2″ actor does have his defenders, though. “The way whole swathes of america think this is hugh grant being rude, but it’s actually just one of the rare situations of an older british man who is in a good mood and nobody is getting his humour,” tweeted journalist Patrick Lenton.