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Austin Butler said he "learned a lesson" after the backlash he received during his Elvis press tour. In a new interview with Esquire published on Tuesday, February 6th, the Oscar-nominated actor responded to the controversy he started after calling his ex-girlfriend Vanessa Hudgens "a friend" in a 2023 Hollywood Reporter discussion.
During the interview, Butler explained how "a friend" inspired him to take on the role of Elvis Presley before he played the legendary musician in Baz Luhrmann's popular 2022 biopic. “Oh, yeah, I learned a lesson with that one,” he told Esquire. At the time, fans felt that referring to Hudgens as a friend was downplaying her role in his life and they took to social media to express their disapproval.
"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," Butler explained. “I have so much love and care for her. It was in no way trying to erase anything.” He added, “I value my own privacy so much. I didn’t want to give up anybody else’s privacy.”
Aside from that one interview, Butler had named Hudgens when talking about her role in his portrayal of Elvis. During an interview with the LA Times, Austin was asked about the previous statement. "I was with my partner at the time," Butler clarified.
"And people have been saying you must have been with Vanessa Hudgens. So that’s right?" the Times asked. "That’s right," he replied. "We’d been together for so long and she had this sort of clairvoyant moment and so I really, I owe her a lot for believing in me."