We’re all a little bit like Hugh Grant this year

The 62-year-old actor, who has won a BAFTA, a Golden Globe and an honorary César, has been toasted, mostly in the American showbiz press and on social media, for appearing to be “rude”. At worst, he tried to be funny.

Grant, whose 53 films have grossed approximately $3 billion worldwide and who time out magazine, which last year was listed as one of the greatest British actors of all time, angered Planet Hollywood for providing seemingly disappointing answers to equally disappointing questions.

Graham, 35, an American celebrity model who has also designed her own lingerie line, asked Grant the usual well-worn (worn-out?) red carpet questions: What are you wearing? Who are you looking forward to? What do you love about the Oscars?

Covering such a red carpet is a daunting challenge for even the most experienced hands, as Sonia Kruger could no doubt attest as she watched most of the big stars sail past their tiny speck on the beige pile. Our fabulous blonde has been viewed by far more famous correspondents from far more powerful media outlets than little ol’ Seven Network from Down Under. But she got Baz, Catherine, Nicole and Keith to stop.

So Graham had clearly pulled off a coup when she hooked Grant.

“What’s your favorite thing about coming to the Oscars?” she asked, before Grant tried to offer a more considered answer than the meaningless phrases being uttered by everyone else: “All of humanity is here. It is vanity fair.”

Grant was referring to the hilariously scathing novel vanity fair by English author William Makepeace Thackeray, who satirized the pomp and frivolity of high society in early 19th-century Britain. As his peers preened and sulked around him, the parallels were plain to see.

But Graham clearly misunderstood that, thinking he was referring to the magazine vanity fair‘s acclaimed after-party, where the stars converge in an ultra-exclusive, over-the-top, bacchanalian prostration that generates almost as much hype as the Oscars themselves.

Grant’s face said it all, an expression of disbelief, disbelief and startling irony as Graham addressed the action at the after-party.

Undeterred, the model held onto her beaming smile and plowed on, her producers’ voices no doubt crackling through her earpiece, guiding her every move.

She then asked Grant who he was most looking forward to seeing on the show. Sounding a bit perplexed, Grant replied after a moment’s pause, “No one in particular.”

Undeterred, Graham resorted to the one supposedly foolproof red carpet question guaranteed to fill airtime, asking Grant, “What are you wearing tonight?”

“Just my suit…I don’t remember my tailor,” the actor replied.

Graham attempted a new question, then brought up Grant’s blinking appearance, which you’d miss glass onionwhich was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay.

“Well, I’m hardly into it,” he said humbly to Graham. “I’m in about three seconds.”

Grant could later be seen rolling his eyes and raising an eyebrow as he walked away.

Sadly, Graham Grant couldn’t ask if his tuxedo was “sustainable,” which became the buzzword in coverage of this year’s red carpet fashion coverage, which hailed stars as environmental warriors for re-wearing the same haute couture dresses they did had worn them a few years ago. I can only imagine the green credentials my threadbare sweatpants deserve.

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There was no mention of the private jets that Hollywood stars routinely fly around in, the limousines that burn fossil fuels to get them to the red carpet, the environmental impact of the mines that produced their dazzling gems, or the carbon footprint of the small army of stylists , designers, hairstylists, makeup artists, videographers, photographers and publicists dedicated themselves to make them look so flawless.

Oddly enough, no one rolled their eyes at that.

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