Hugh Grant Makes Surprising Joke About 1995 Arrest at Premiere of His New Religious Horror

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Hugh Grant kept it cheeky at the premiere of his new movie, Heretic, throwing in a nod to his infamous 1995 arrest that left the audience in stitches.

Taking the stage at Hollywood’s TCL Chinese Theater on Thursday, October 24, the 64-year-old rom-com king kept his words brief but didn’t miss the chance to land a punchline.

“Hollywood Boulevard has always been a lucky place for me,” he joked, drawing laughs from the crowd who immediately picked up on the reference.

For those out of the loop, Grant was arrested nearly 30 years ago for lewd conduct with sex worker Estella Marie Thompson, aka Divine Brown. (At the time, he was in a relationship with Elizabeth Hurley.) The incident happened just blocks from where he was standing, making his comment an iconic and unexpected callback.

The surprising quip caused Heretic‘s director, Bryan Woods, to double over with laughter as the rest of the film’s crew broke out in applause with the audience.

“It’s nice of AFI [American Film Institute] to have us. It’s nice of you to show up,” the award-winning actor said, wrapping up his speech at the podium. “It was nice of these girls to be so brilliant in the film. It was nice of these two weirdos to put me in it and nice of the producers to pay me so little. I hope you enjoy it.”

Grant’s sense of humor about the incident is nothing new. While appearing on The View last year in March, host Sunny Hostin asked about his involvement in being an outspoken critic of the British tabloid press.

He replied, “Everyone thinks, ‘Oh, well he’s just bitter because he got arrested with a hooker in 1995.’ But actually, it had nothing to do with that because that was never uncovered by tabloids. It was that the bloody police gave everyone the information. It was nothing to do with that.”

Catch Heretic when it hits theaters on Friday, November 8.