Hugh Grant Says Drew Barrymore Was 'So Nice' in a Letter She Sent Him amid His Cheating Scandal

"Words of support from an actress I didn't know in Hollywood was lovely, so, you will always have a place in my heart," Hugh Grant told Drew Barrymore on her talk show

Drew Barrymore, Hugh Grant
Photo: Fred Duval/FilmMagic

Drew Barrymore's relationship with Hugh Grant stems from a letter she sent him during a difficult time in his career.

On Thursday, the 60-year-old Golden Globe winner virtually stopped by The Drew Barrymore Show and opened up about the time Barrymore sent him a supportive letter during his cheating scandal back in 1995.

Barrymore initially asked her Music and Lyrics costar if she remembered how they met, and reminded him that she wrote him a letter before the two met in person.

"Oh my god, you did, you were so nice!" Grant remembered. "It was during the dark days of my Divine Brown scandal, I was just an idiot. I was a grown-up idiot who got caught by the police."

He continued, "I was back in England with 5,000 members of the press around the borders of my farm and I opened a letter, from you, that was very supportive and nice, and it was very cheering up and I thought, 'I love Drew Barrymore.' Words of support from an actress I didn't know in Hollywood was lovely, so, you will always have a place in my heart."

In June 1995, Grant was arrested for paying sex worker Divine Brown, whose real name is Estella Marie Thompson, to perform sexual acts on him in a public space. At the time, the Nine Months star had been dating British actress Elizabeth Hurley for over a decade.

He was ultimately ordered to pay a $1,000 fine and attend an AIDS education program as punishment.

Barrymore, 46, who's been open about her own struggles while growing up in the spotlight, said she decided to write the letter because she could relate to Grant.

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"I loved you so much, that whole incident I related in my own life, and I think that whether it's an actor or politician or anything in between, we expect people to be infallible, perfect, never flawed, and God forbid we do anything in our personal lives that we would like to remain personal — but we don't have that privilege at a certain point because the cat gets let out of the bag — and I just had to reach out to you," the Charlie's Angels star explained.

"I just appreciated you and you were just the most charming human," she told her longtime friend.

Speaking with PEOPLE in 2018, Grant opened up about his infamous incident with Brown, where he shared, "I was just an idiot. I didn't try to say, 'I've got this psychological problem.' I just said, 'I did it.'"

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