One of the more memorable moments from a relatively quiet Oscars (pretty easy to be normal when people aren’t getting slapped on live TV) was a pretty awkward interview between showbiz veteran Hugh Grant and red carpet entertainment reporter Ashley Graham.
The interview, which lasted about a minute, featured Graham lobbing softball questions at Grant hoping to get something out of him and Grant being polite and British but not much else. There’s a debate ongoing about whether Grant is boorish or just British, but regardless Graham did what she could with what she had.
TMZ caught up with Graham the next day to get her thoughts on the whole thing, and she seemed fine with the whole thing. “My momma always told me to ‘kill them with kindness,'” she told the cameraman. She also agreed that she can’t really control anyone’s reactions, all you can do is try to be professional and do your job.
While she decided to take the high road, the takes are falling from the sky like snow during a blizzard. People have been calling Grant rude or snobby, and also calling out the fact that Graham misinterpreted his Vanity Fair comment. His quote, after Graham asked how he felt to be back at the awards, was “It’s fascinating, the whole of humanity is here. It’s Vanity Fair.”
Even though Grant was most likely referring to the 1847 novel Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray, Graham seemed to think he was talking about the magazine. Which, to be fair, is an easy mistake to make. She said:
“Oh yes, it’s all about Vanity Fair, that’s where we need to let loose and have a little fun.” Fun for us, that’s for sure.