In 1995, Hugh Grant made a joke at the Oscars about his co-star Andie MacDowell’s acting abilities. It was a moment that received plenty of laughs at the time, but MacDowell revealed a few years ago that the comment hurt her feelings. Now, Grant has opened up about the incident and admitted that it was a joke that he “got away with.”
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Grant explained that he didn’t mean to hurt MacDowell’s feelings with his joke. “I didn’t quite understand why she was so upset, to be honest,” he said. “But then I hadn’t realized at the time how thin-skinned actors can be. I learned that lesson through bitter experience.”
The joke in question came when Grant was presenting the Best Supporting Actress award at the 1995 Oscars. He made a quip about MacDowell’s acting in their film “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” saying, “The English people, the producers, were saying, ‘Would you mind terribly if we cast someone who’s, um, American?’ And we said, ‘Why ever not?’ And they said, ‘Because we’d like the film to be a success.’”
At the time, the comment was met with laughter from the audience, but MacDowell later revealed that it hurt her feelings. Speaking to The Guardian in 2018, she said, “I don’t think I’ve ever confronted him, ever. But we’ve talked about it and I think he understands now that it wasn’t good for our relationship. But, you know, things happen, and we were all young and foolish.”
Grant acknowledged in the recent interview that he had “got away with” the joke at the time, but he also expressed regret for how it had affected his relationship with MacDowell. “I regretted it and still do regret it,” he said. “I felt terrible at the time, but Andie was very forgiving.”
The incident serves as a reminder that even seemingly harmless jokes can have real consequences, and that it’s important to consider the feelings of others before speaking. While Grant may have “got away with” his comment in the moment, it ultimately caused real hurt to his co-star. Hopefully, this can serve as a lesson for others to think before they speak.
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