Austin Butler Disses Ex Vanessa Hudgens In Rare Comments About Their Messy Break-Up

Highlights

Austin Butler referred to Vanessa Hudgens as a "friend" which caused confusion among fans given their past romantic relationship.
Butler explained that he was trying to protect Vanessa's privacy and not draw attention to their past romance.
Austin admitted that he has "love and care" for Vanessa and that referring to her as a friend was not an attempt to erase their relationship.

Austin Butler and Vanessa Hudgens shocked the world when they broke up in 2020 following nearly a decade of dating. Despite their high-profile split, it hasn’t stopped the pair from finding love elsewhere, especially for Vanessa, who announced her engagement to MLB player Cole Tucker last year.

Though Austin and Vanessa have been careful not to discuss their past romance publicly, the Elvis actor recently shared insight into where they stand, and it may be a surprise to some fans.

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Austin Was Slammed For Referring To Vanessa As His Friend

Austin initially sparked controversy last year when referring to Vanessa as a “friend,” which appeared to confuse some fan given that the pair officially dated from 2011 to 2020.

During the 2023 Hollywood Reporter Actors Roundtabl, Butler admitted that Hudgens was the first person to suggest that he’d make a great Elvis, leading to his iconic role in the Baz Luhrmann film released last year that even the Presley family praised him for.

“The month before I heard that Baz [Luhrmann] was making the movie, I was going to look at Christmas lights with a friend, and there was an Elvis Christmas song on the radio and I was singing along, and my friend looked over at me and goes, ‘You’ve got to play Elvis.’ I said, ‘Oh, that’s such a long shot,’” he explained, before recalling a moment where he played music for his then-girlfriend Vanessa and a group of friends.

“That same friend was there and I was playing the piano,” Austin went on. “She said, ‘I’m serious. You gotta figure out how you can get the rights to a script.’ Then my agent called and said, ‘So Baz Luhrmann is making an Elvis film.'”

Austin Says He Doesn’t Want To Disrespect Vanessa’s Privacy

Vanessa had previously admitted in 2019 that she was the one who planted the idea in Austin’s head. So, even though he referred to her only as a “friend” during his comments last year, it didn’t take fans to put the pieces together. However, this caused confusion as to why he only referred to her as a friend and not an ex.

Most recently, Austin addressed the seeming snub at Vanessa, explaining that he wasn’t trying to diss her at all. Rather, he was trying to protect her privacy and not draw attention to their past romance now that they’re with new people.

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“Oh, yeah, I learned a lesson with that one. 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,” Austin, 31, admitted to Esquire on February 6 during a cover story for the publication. “I have so much love and care for her. It was in no way trying to erase anything. I value my own privacy so much, I didn’t want to give up anybody else’s privacy.”

While Vanessa debuted her relationship with Cole Tucker in 2020, only to get engaged last year, Austin has been in a relationship with model Kaia Gerber since late 2022.