The Oscar-nominated actor sparked controversy when he referred to the 'High School Musical' star as a friend during a 2023 Hollywood Reporter Actors Roundtable conversation.
- Feb 6, 2024
AceShowbiz - Austin Butler has spoken out on social media backlash that he received after he referred to his ex Vanessa Hudgens as a "friend" in a past interview. The "Elvis" star insisted in a new interview that he didn't mean disrespect with his comment.
"Oh, yeah, I learned a lesson with that one," the 32-year-old star told Esquire in the interview published on Tuesday, February 6. He shared that instead of downplaying their history, he was trying to protect her from any extra media attention with the label.
He explained, "I felt that I was respecting her privacy in a way and not wanting to bring up a ton of things that would cause her to have to talk." The Oscar nominee added, "I have so much love and care for her. It was in no way trying to erase anything."
The "Dune: Part Two" star went on to stress, "I value my own privacy so much, I didn't want to give up anybody else's privacy."
Austin sparked controversy when he discussed his "Elvis" role during a 2023 Hollywood Reporter Actors Roundtable conversation. "The month before I heard that Baz [Luhrmann] was making the movie, I was going to look at Christmas lights with a friend, and there was an Elvis Christmas song on the radio and I was singing along," he recalled at the time. "And my friend looked over at me and goes, 'You've got to play Elvis.' I said, 'Oh, that's such a long shot.' "
"A couple of weeks later, I was playing the piano," he continued at the time. "I never really sang for any of my friends or anything. That same friend was there and I was playing the piano. She said, 'I'm serious. You gotta figure out how you can get the rights to a script.' Then my agent called and said, 'So Baz Luhrmann is making an Elvis film.' "
Upon hearing that, fans quickly identified the said friend as Vanessa as the "High School Musical" actress shared a nearly identical story years ago. "Last December, we were driving along and we were listening to Christmas music, and then an Elvis Presley Christmas song came on," Vanessa revealed in a 2019 episode of "Live with Kelly and Ryan".
The singer, who was still together with Austin at the time, continued, "He had just dyed his hair dark. He's a natural blond, and I was looking at him and he was singing along and I was like, 'Babe, you need to play Elvis.' "
"Then in January, he was sitting at the piano," she added. "And he's playing and he's singing and I'm like, 'I don't know how, but you need to figure out how you can play Elvis. Like, I don't know how we get rights or what we do, but you need to play him.' "
After splitting in January 2020, Austin and Vanessa have moved on. Austin is currently dating model Kaia Gerber, while the "Spring Breakers" star married pro baseball player Cole Tucker on December 2, 2023, in Tulum, Mexico.
