Ashley Graham, the model who was presenting on the champagne carpet at this year’s 95th Academy Awards, found herself in an awkward situation during an interview with Hugh Grant.
The Love Actually star’s responses were deemed “rude” and “awkward” by fans of the model who have since defended her online.
During the interview, Graham kicked things off by asking Grant if he was looking forward to a particular actor or film picking up the coveted award. Grant replied: “No, not one in particular.” When Graham asked what Grant was wearing, he simply said, “Just my suit.” Graham then asked Grant about his experience of shooting Glass Onion, to which he replied, “Well, I’m barely in it, I was in it for about three seconds.” When Graham asked if he had fun, Grant responded, “Erm… almost.”
After the interview went viral, Graham was asked by TMZ on Monday if she took “offense” to Grant’s replies. Graham simply said, “You know what, my mama told me to kill people with kindness, so there you go.” Despite the awkwardness of the interview, Graham insists that she still “had such a good time” presenting at the Oscars.
While some fans of the model leapt to her defense online, others pointed out that Graham had misunderstood Grant’s “Vanity Fair” comment, which was most likely a reference to William Makepeace Thackeray’s 1848 novel of the same name, rather than the after-party. One person said, “I mean, maybe don’t ask a famous misanthrope what he ‘loves about the Oscars?’ And then misunderstand the reference to ‘Vanity Fair’ as the after-party instead of the 19th century eat-the-rich novel?”
Despite the mixed reactions to the interview, one thing is clear: Graham’s professionalism and poise in the face of an awkward situation have won her even more fans. As she said herself, killing people with kindness is always the best policy.
