The 95th Academy Awards took place on March 12, and the Dolby Theatre was filled with celebrities who were excited to attend the ceremony. However, not everyone seemed thrilled to be there, and social media took notice. Actor and presenter Hugh Grant went viral for his short responses to model and interviewer Ashley Graham on the red carpet.
Graham first asked Grant what his favorite thing about coming to the Oscars was, and he responded, “It’s fascinating… the whole of humanity is here, it’s vanity fair.” Graham then asked if there was anyone he was excited to see win. “No one in particular” was his answer. When she asked the typical red carpet question “What are you wearing?” Grant simply replied, “Just my suit.”
Finally, Graham asked Grant what it was like to appear in the Oscar-nominated film Glass Onion. “Well I’m barely in it, I’m in it for about three seconds,” the actor answered. Overall, the interview was just over a minute long, but the effect it had on the internet was immediate.
@ReignofApril tweeted a video of the awkward interview with the caption, “I don’t understand this from Hugh Grant. If you don’t want to be interviewed, don’t take the mic, smile politely and keep walking. Kudos to @ashleygraham for trying repeatedly to get something interesting out of him.”
Rolling Stone tweeted, “And the Oscar for Best Actress goes to Ashley Graham telling Hugh Grant ‘it was nice to talk to you.’”
However, others pointed out that Grant has always had a very dry sense of humor during interviews. Matthew Sweet tweeted, “I once interviewed him and opened with some absurdly elaborate question and he said: ‘Look, you know I just do this for the money.’” Other news outlets echoed this sentiment, pointing out that Grant’s attitude was “just British,” and not meant to be offensive to Graham.
Users were commending Graham for her positive attitude even when her interview did not go as planned. Luckily, Graham had plenty of positive moments from the awards ceremony as well, including an adorable moment with Rihanna.
Neither Graham nor Grant has publicly commented on the situation further. The internet is still divided on whether Grant was being deliberately rude or just awkward, but the one thing they can agree on is that this moment will be one of several Oscars memes for the year.