Austin Butler clarifies why he referred to ex Vanessa Hudgens as his ‘friend’ in viral comment

Austin Butler has clarified why he referred to ex-girlfriend Vanessa Hudgens as a “friend” in a now-viral comment about his role in Elvis.

The 32-year-old actor spoke candidly about his former partner, who he dated for nearly 10 years, during an interview with Esquire, published on 6 February.

His remarks come more than a year after he faced backlash for referring to Hudgens as “friend,” while recalling she once told him that he should play Elvis Presley in a biopic, long before he was actually cast as the singer.

Speaking to Esquire, Butler went on to share his perspective about the criticism, after making the now viral comment. He also explained why he didn’t mention Hudgens’ name in the first place, noting that he values his ex’s privacy and that he still has a lot of appreciation for their relationship.

“Oh, yeah, I learned a lesson with that one,” he said. “I felt that I was respecting her privacy in a way and not wanting to bring up a ton of things that would cause her to have to talk. I have so much love and care for her. It was in no way trying to erase anything.”

After acknowledging that he and Hudgens were together for a “long time”, he doubled down on his decision to keep the details of their romance out of the spotlight. “I value my own privacy so much,” he said. “I didn’t want to give up anybody else’s privacy.”

While featured in The Hollywood Reporter’s Actors Roundtable back in January 2023, after being nominated for an Oscar for his performance in Elvis, he first told the story about his “friend” encouraging him to audition for the role.

“I was going to look at Christmas lights with a friend, and there was an Elvis Christmas song on the radio, and I was singing along, and my friend looked over at me and goes: ‘You’ve got to play Elvis.’ I said: ‘Oh, that’s such a long shot,'” the actor recalled.