Richard E Grant says he permanently cut friends out of his life over how they handled his wife’s death

Richard E Grant has revealed that he “edited” friends out of his life after they avoided him following the death of his wife, Joan Washington. Washington — a renowned dialect coach — died in 2021, aged 74, eight months after being diagnosed with lung cancer. She and Grant, 69, had been married for 35 years and shared one daughter, Olivia, 37.

In the past, Grant has described how friends would avoid him following Washington’s death to avoid an awkward conversation. In a new interview with The Times of London, Grant said he would never forgive those who kept their distance during that time. There are people that have been edited out of my life and I will never see them again.

If I had done that to them, I wouldn’t be able to look them in the face.” “No, portcullis down,” he added. It’s not the first time that Grant has been ruthless about cutting friends out of his life. Earlier this year, the Withnail and I actor revealed he cut off a friend of 29 years after he was accidentally CC’d on an email filled with “brutal” comments about him.

During a February episode of the Mad, Sad, & Bad podcast, Grant described the person as someone who he “thought was one of the five best friends in my life.” New subscribers only. £9.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.

And I was doing the final episode of Frasier,” which aired in May 2004. He said that the email contained “such toxicity” that he immediately decided to cut off the friendship. And I said, ‘29 years of friendship?’” Asked what the offensive comments were about, Grant replied: “It was of my script that I had written, which was entirely autobiographical.” Grant’s 2005 comedy Wah-Wah was loosely based on his own life.

She said to me, ‘In your heart of hearts, haven’t you always known this about that person?’” Grant added that the turn of events was “just brutal.” “Because that person knows you in the most formative part of your life, when you're still dreaming of getting regular work out there as an actor,” Grant said. So when you’re betrayed like that, there’s no going back for me.” Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies