After Austin Butler's Voice Coach Said That His "Elvis" Accent Might Be "Forever," Ex-Girlfriend Vanessa Hudgens Had One Word

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After Austin Butler's Voice Coach Said That His "Elvis" Accent Might Be "Forever," Ex-Girlfriend Vanessa Hudgens Had One Word

Vanessa Hudgens had one word for Austin Butler still using his accent from Elvis.

A close-up of Vanessa smiling on the red carpet of the Screen Actors Guild Awards; she is wearing a satin spaghetti-strap dress
Jeff Kravitz / FilmMagic / Getty Images

Now, you might know that Vanessa and Austin were together for almost a decade after meeting on the set of High School Musical in 2011. However, the exes made headlines earlier this month after Austin told a story about a "friend" of his who told him twice that he should play Elvis — which was rather awkward, given that said "friend" appears to have been Vanessa.

Austin and Vanessa with their arms around each other as they pose for photographers at a red carpet event
Axelle / FilmMagic / Getty Images

You also might have noticed that the Southern drawl Austin — who grew up in California — put on for Elvis is still hanging around offscreen, even though the filming wrapped in March 2021. Enter Austin's voice coach, Irene Bartlett, who gave an interview explaining why he still sounded like Elvis during his Golden Globes speech.

Austin in suit and bow tie stands for photographers on the Golden Globes red carpet
Amy Sussman / Getty Images

"Because of COVID shutdowns, he was working on it all the time, and it's difficult to switch off something you've spent so much focus time on," Irene told ABC Australia. "I don't know how long that will last, or if it's going to be there forever."

Austin as Elvis
Warner Bros. / Courtesy Everett Collection

The assertion that the accent was "genuine" and may be permanent made its way to one Instagram account, which captioned the post, "He went to the Lady Gaga school of Oscar campaign acting."

And added a lil' meme:

Lady Gaga sitting on a chair draped with a sheet saying "How do I explain it?"

And who should react? Vanessa.

Vanessa simply replied, "Crying"

Yes, Vanessa Hudgens herself.

A zoomed-in close-up of the comment

A friendly joke or a bit of a jab? Perhaps we will never know. She also "liked" the post, in case that sways you.

An ultra-zoomed in shot of the word "Crying"

Obsessed.