Hugh Grant Scores Apology From Rupert Murdoch Over Tweet Claiming He Abandoned "Love Child"

British rom-com star fields mea culpa from News Corp. media mogul following allegation of neglectful parenting on Twitter

By Gina Serpe Oct 19, 2012 5:52 PMTags
Hugh GrantBBC

Has the World stopped spinning? Oh wait, yes it has.

Well, that would go some way towards explaining why Rupert Murdoch, of all people, deigned to (brace yourselves) make a public apology to the tabloid-scorned Hugh Grant.

But not, as it happens, for the gross invasion of privacy that was the tabloid phone-hacking scandal.

Nope. Instead, the conservative News Corp. media mogul took to Twitter this week and offered up an apology on a far more personal matter: namely, Hugh's parenting skills.

"Hugh Grant states that he is deeply involved in his daughter's life—I accept that, regret tweet on the matter. Apologies to both parents," the 81-year-old wrote yesterday.

The uncharacteristic about-face came just a day after he first called out the British rom-com vet in an offense-causing tweet that came courtesy of an exchange with another Twitter user earlier this week.

It was sparked by a series of tweets Murdoch sent out in response to an Australian news report alleging that he called celebrity phone-hacking victims "scumbags." A follower turned the question around on him, asking, "Scumbugs? And your journalists and executives are what?"

It's that query that led to his tweet calling Grant's fathering skills into question, an accusation Grant, according to The Guardian, was so furious about that he was already weighing legal options.

"They don't get arrested for indecency on major LA highways! Or abandon love child's," was Murdoch's troubling response.

Fortunately, Murdoch later thought better of his reply and offered up a more tempered response a few days later.

"I did not say all celebrities were scumbags," he wrote. Check my tweet. And apology to any who misunderstood."

And maybe next time think before you tweet.