Hugh Grant admitted this week that he is a “rabid” fan of the all-female K-pop band Blackpink, provoking surprise and delight among the rest of the group’s following.
On Monday (3 July), the British actor, 62, revealed in a tweet that he was part of the crowd at London’s BST Hyde Park festival over the weekend, seeing the four-member South Korean girl band perform live.
The Notting Hill star had written: “Very grateful to three 11-year-olds for taking me to see @BLACKPINK yesterday. Am rabid Blink now. Slept with my heart hammer.”
“Blink” is the nickname the group has for its massive fanbase, and the “hammer” comment is a reference to the pink, hammer-shaped light sticks known as BI-Ping-Bong that have become a signature of the band’s concerts.
Fans were thrilled about Grant’s presence. “Hugh Grant is at Blackpink I’m dying,” tweeted one concertgoer.
“Hugh Grant wearing Blackpink t-shirt at Hyde Park was insane,” another wrote.
A third fan said: “Oh he has taste liking the best K-pop group.”
“He know who the queens of K-pop are!!” posted a fourth, while a fifth added: “Seeing Hugh Grant at the Blackpink show last night felt like a fever dream.”
One TikTok user posted footage of Grant at the show, wearing his Blackpink merch.
Blackpink made history on Sunday as the first ever K-pop band to headline a major UK music festival.
Members Jennie, Jisoo, Lisa and Rosé performed hits from “Pink Venom” to “How You Like That” to a sold-out crowd of 65,000 people.
Grant was most recently seen in the fantasy film Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. While promoting the movie, he discussed how the atmosphere on film sets has changed considerably since he first began his career, because of the presence of mobile phones in people’s lives.
“You know, in the old days, by the end of the second week, you were all getting drunk in the evening and having dinner and falling in love with each other and all that,” he said.
“And all that stopped because of telephones. Really everyone goes home and looks at Twitter. It’s so sad.”
Grant can next be seen in the film Wonka, out this December, which focuses on a young Willy Wonka and how he came to meet the Oompa-Loompas on one of his earliest adventures. Grant stars as one of the Oompa-Loompas, alongside Timothée Chalamet’s genius chocolate factory owner.
