Liz Hayes has reflected on her incredible career and the moment she had to interview British actor Hugh Grant after his 1995 sex worker scandal.
The 60 Minutes journalist, 67, appeared on the A Life of Greatness podcast and said she empathised with the star and “felt his pain” after he was “excoriated” over the incident.
“I could feel he’d been beaten somewhat,” Hayes explained on the podcast. “That’s worldwide pain he suffered.”
Watch the video above.
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“Hugh Grant had just been excoriated for his own personal indiscretion. You know, he’d had a night with [sex worker], got picked up in LA, had his mug shot on the, you know, and then we, we were to turn up to do an interview with him for his latest film. And I felt, I felt his pain a bit,” she began.
“He turned up unescorted. He didn’t seem to need a tribe of people around him. I could feel he’d been beaten somewhat. I had to ask him at least reflect upon that. And I didn’t particularly want to do it because I, I knew he must feel terrible.”
“My job was to see if he’d like to say something about it. He did. We got through it and moved on, but I thought, wow, yeah, that was, that’s worldwide pain he suffered.”
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Hayes said she realised that despite his superstar status, being in the spotlight has its pitfalls for celebrities.
“I could see he’s just like you and me. He’s a human being. And that’s really trips me up with these kinds of interviews. Because as much as I might want to be, um, frustrated, I get it. I really do get it. These are great jobs to have. But the downside can be this, you know, exposure and scrutiny. And when it doesn’t go your way, it’s never fun.”
At the time, Grant’s squeaky-clean image came crashing down, after he was arrested in 1995 for participating in “lewd conduct” with a sex worker. His sheepish mugshot is now infamous.
It was revealed that the star was arrested in a police sting operation, after he paid sex worker Divine Brown $60 to perform oral sex on him in a nearby street.
Tabloid newspaper News of the World reportedly paid Brown $100,000 for her side of the story. She claims that Grant told her: “I always wanted to sleep with a black woman. That’s my fantasy.”
According to Grant, it was all a stupid mistake. Right after the news of his arrest hit the press, he released his own statement.
“Last night I did something completely insane,” he said. “I have hurt people I love and embarrassed people I work with. For both things I am more sorry than I can ever possibly say.”
Grant didn’t end up going to court for the charge, but was ordered to pay a fine of $1,000 and go on an Aids education programme.
He also told Jay Leno on the US Tonight Show: ”I think you know in life what’s a good thing to do and what’s a bad thing, and I did a bad thing. And there you have it.”
He was with Elizabeth Hurley at the time.
Hurley refused to speak publicly about the issue. It wasn’t until two months later that she finally commented, saying that “she felt like she had been shot” on hearing he had sex with a sex worker.
The couple actually ended up working through it, and stayed together for five years. Grant and Hurley broke up in 2000 – and he named her godmother to his child in 2002.
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