Drew Barrymore defends Hugh Grant after his polarizing interview with Ashley Graham

Drew Barrymore defended her former co-star Hugh Grant on Friday amid controversy over whether it was rude to model Ashley Graham on the Oscars red carpet.

A video of Graham interviewing Grant at Sunday’s Oscars went viral earlier this week, with some people decrying Grant’s snapped responses and eventual eye-rolling.

Grant also had plenty of defenders. Some found his lack of enthusiasm for small talk downright dependable. Others have suggested that the backlash was the result of cultural differences between the US and the UK, with the Washington Post asking, “Is Hugh Grant rude or just British?”

Barrymore, who appeared alongside Grant in “Music and Lyrics” in 2007, had his own interpretation: the actor was simply “grumpy” himself.

“There’s this thing going on with him and Ashley Graham on the red carpet. People are like, ‘Oh, she’s such a curmudgeon, and she’s so dumped,'” the talk show host said in Friday’s episode from his “Drew Barrymore Show”.

She continued: “I’m like, no, it’s Hugh Grant. You think you get this lovely movie star, and what you really get is grumpy Hugh. And then you fall in love with grumpy Hugh. .

The ‘Never Been Kissed’ actor stirred up the red carpet hubbub as she discussed another grumpy Grant-related topic: her recent description of Barrymore’s singing voice as “awful.”

On his show, Barrymore laughed at his apparent brusqueness. “If you know Hugh, that’s his way of loving you,” she said.

His opinion of Grant appears to be much higher than he guessed, perhaps cheekily, in 2009. When Elle magazine asked him to briefly talk about some of the stars he’s worked with, he said of Barrymore: “I made him cry. Stunning movie star face. Hate me.”