Drew Barrymore Had a Hilarious Response to Hugh Grant Calling Her Singing “Horrendous”

Drew Barrymore is a lot of things: an actress, director, producer, talk show host, and author, but within her wheelhouse of expertise, singing might be something she should leave to the professionals. Chiming in on her musical talents, Hugh Grant thinks her singing is “horrendous.” 

In a recent chat on WIRED's Autocomplete Interview, the actor was asked if he actually sang in the 2007 rom-com Music & Lyrics, which stars Barrymore. He responded, “Yes, well, I do, but I'm auto-tuned beyond belief." 

But while he had the mic, he hinted at his co-star’s singing skills. Adding, "Actually, that's not true. I'm auto-tuned a bit, but not as much as some.”

Critiquing her harmonious attempts to sing, he shared, “Drew Barrymore is in that film with me, and I don't think she'd mind me saying her singing is just horrendous. I've heard dogs bark better than she sings."

He added, "But having said that, once they tuned her up, she sounded way better than me, because she's got heart and voice and rock 'n' roll, whereas I sounded like Julie Andrews, and I meant to be kind of rock 'n' roll, as well."

Through the grapevine, Barrymore got word of this wind and quickly clapped back with friendly banter. Posting a video of herself holding a hairbrush as a mic, she performed an a capella version of “Way Back to Love,” a single she and Grant wrote together in Music & Lyrics.  

At the end of the Instagram Reel, she responds to Grant’s critique, “Oh, Hugh-bert, Hubert, that's for you,” captioning it “#SingForHughGrant JOIN ME."

But let me remind you, there’s no harm or foul in this, as the two have a friendship filled with happy recollections. In fact, he was a guest on The Drew Barrymore Show in 2021. During the episode, she said, "I loved getting to know you on our movie Music and Lyrics, and it's just one of my very favorite movies … And it makes me so happy. It was a good movie, it was a happy movie."

Grant agreed. "I love to hate the films I've been in, and I do hate some of them," he shared. "But Music & Lyrics, it's impossible to hate. We're so good in it and so charming."

He firmly believes that the two “had a bit of chemistry.” But on the flip side, Barrymore interjected that they didn’t hit it off immediately. 

"It was funny too because when Hugh and I met, Hugh, you can be a bit of a curmudgeon from time to time," she said. "And I, of course, am like a Labrador in heat … and so excited with joy. So when we both met, we were like, 'Oh, we're kind of different people’ … And then we really got to know each other and accept each other for who we were and it became easy. And we used to sit around and laugh."