It says a lot about the state of the Oscars in general that, on a night when a bear on cocaine attacked the noted activist Malala Yousafzai in her seat on live television, last night’s ceremony went down as one of the most incident-free of recent years. Indeed, it seems like the only enduring non-award talking point of the night was Hugh Grant being a bit awkward on the red carpet.
You will have seen the clip by now. Grant stands on the carpet with his hands on his hips, looking more like an exasperated bank manager than a movie star, barely tolerating the volley of softball questions lobbed at him by host Ashley Graham. “What’s your favourite thing about coming to the Oscars?” she asks. Seven full seconds pass, full of silences and ums and wells, before Grant finally settles on a noncommittal “It’s fascinating”. But worse is to come.
