Hugh Grant hits back at Sajid Javid as chancellor brands him 'rude' for refusing handshake
Hugh Grant has hit back at Sajid Javid after the chancellor said it was “incredibly rude” of him to refuse shaking his hand.
The Love Actually actor made an appearance at the London Film Festival premiere of Martin Scorsese’s crime drama The Irishman just a few weeks ago, where he was approached by the MP and rejected his greeting. Javid recalled the awkward exchange at the red carpet event in a recent interview with ES magazine, saying he was “completely shocked” by Grant’s attitude towards him.
“I wonder if people like Hugh Grant think they are part of the elite and they look down on working class people no matter what station they reach in life," he pondered.
The quotes soon made headlines and now Grant has taken to Twitter to explain why he opted out of shaking hands with Javid and slam certain publications for not sharing his “side of the story”.
“If you don’t mind, I won’t shake your hand because you were rude and dismissive to the victims or press abuse when you met them as culture secretary.’
“Hugh would like to point out that the victims in question were not celebrities.
“They were people with ..— Hugh Grant (@HackedOffHugh) October 31, 2019
“I see that @TelegraphNews and @MailOnline have, like the obedient doggies they are, faithfully copied out the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s version of my declining to shake his hand,” he wrote, before accusing them of deliberately ignoring his follow-up statement to the Press Association.
The 59-year-old went on to spell out what he’d told to Javid at the time, repeating: “‘If you don’t mind, I won’t shake your hand because you were rude and dismissive to the victims of press abuse when you met them as culture secretary.’”
Read more: Hugh Grant complains to his local cinema that 'unendurable sound' ruined watching 'Joker'
Grant has been a prominent backer of Hacked Off, a campaign which calls for stricter press regulations, since he learned he was a victim of the News of the World phone-hacking scandal back in 2011.
Conservative Party member Javid worked as culture secretary between 2014 and 2015, before becoming home secretary and then Chancellor of the Exchequer in July 2019.
