Hugh Grant’s interview with Jay Leno back in the mid-90s remains one if not the most iconic moments in Late Night Talk Show’s history following the controversies that surrounded the actor. Although the 90s witnessed Grant establishing himself as the quintessential romantic hero of that era, he also found himself in extreme tabloid scrutiny for his controversial actions.
But the 1995 s-x worker scandal remains the actor’s most controversial act, which resulted in his reputation getting tanked. However, the actor did go on to make an honest confession about the matter.
Hugh Grant made an honest confession on The Tonight Show
The 90s was an interesting period in Hugh Grant‘s life, as a year after getting his big breakthrough starring in Four Weddings and a Funeral, the actor’s reputation took a big blow following the 1995 scandal. This involved the actor getting arrested for indulging in lewd activities with s-x worker Divine Brown, while he was in a committed, long-term relationship with Liz Hurley.
But prior to getting arrested, the actor had a planned appearance in Jay Leno’s The Tonight Show to promote his film Nine Months. Although Leno doubted whether the actor would make an appearance amidst the PR debacle, Grant did attend the show and made an honest confession, resulting in one of the most iconic moments of Late Night history.
“What the hell were you thinking?” Leno asked as the audience burst into laughter.
Grant responded, “You know in life what’s a good thing to do and a bad thing to do. I did a bad thing,”
This isn’t the only time the scandalous act was brought into the media light, as Grant would once again joke about the controversy while calling out the British tabloid press.
Hugh Grant joked about the 1995 scandal while taking a dig at the tabloid industry
The Notting Hill star has come a long way since finding himself in the scandalous act in 1995, and in recent years he hasn’t backed away from taking jabs at the British tabloid press. During his time on the US Talk Show The View, Hugh Grant went on to joke about getting arrested back in 1995 for indulging in lewd acts with a S-x worker, following his campaign against the British tabloid press. He said,
“Everyone thinks, ‘Oh, well he’s just bitter because he got arrested with a hooker in 1995.’ But you know what, really, who hasn’t? But actually, it had nothing to do with that because that was never uncovered by tabloids. It was that the bloody police gave everyone the information. It was nothing to do with that.”
But the plethora of controversies that have surrounded the actor from time to time, didn’t hamper his rise, as he kept on delivering great performances one after another on the silver screen.
Source: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
