This holiday season, we’re thankful for Kathy Griffin and her new book, because she’s dishing about every celebrity encounter she’s ever had — good and bad. In her hilarious new tome, Kathy Griffin’s Celebrity Run-Ins: My A-Z Index, she recalls the time Tom Hanks joked he wanted to take a “wasted” Harry Styles to rehab.
The comedian and Hanks met Styles while backstage at a 2014 Eagles concert in Los Angeles. The One Direction singer was at the concert with Kendall Jenner, who Griffin refers to as “Candle” in the excerpt. According to the comedian, Styles was allegedly so drunk that he kept asking Hanks if he remembered his Oscar-worthy roles such as Saving Private Ryan and Forrest Gump. He also left Griffin with his Yves Saint Laurent coat, which the funnywoman writes she wanted to steal.
In the hilarious excerpt below, Griffin writes that Hanks joked to her that he wanted to drive Styles to rehab himself:
An allegedly very, very wasted Harry Styles walked into the room and made a beeline for Tom Hanks.
…
Harry: Re-membah when you wuz savin’ Private Ryan and had to bring ‘im back to ‘is mum? Re-membah?
Tom Hanks politely replies with caution: Yes.
Harry: Re-membah when you wuz in Cappin Phillips? And the other guy sez, ‘Oim’ the capn’ now”? ‘Membah?
Tom, trying go figure this young man out: Yes, yes, I do remember.
Harry: Was that scaarrry?
Even I wasn’t expecting that question. I turned to Tom: Yeah, Tom, was that scary?
Tom, clearly trying to save Harry Styles from himself (in a way Candle Jenner never could): Harry, have you met my friend, the comedian Kathy Griffin? (Tom really hit the word comedian hard.)
…
Harry was unfazed and returned his attention to the great Tom Hanks again …with the questions. It was like he was doing a memory brain teaser.
Harry: Re-membah when you wuz Forrest Gump? ‘Membah? ‘Membah?
Tom, still indulging: I was, yes.
Harry: You wuz always runnin’? Membah?
Yes, he was asking Tom Hanks if Tom remembers playing the role of Forrest Gump, for which he won the Academy Award. I can’t point out here enough how Harry Styles seemed to think it was him mission to make sure Tom Hanks did not forget the names of any of his films or the fact that he had starred in these films.
Harry: That was a good film.
Tom: I do remember.
Without explanation, Harry Styles turned and pivoted away. Tom Hanks had been pretty much frozen in the same sport during this magical and epic exchange. Tom’s answer was perfect and delivered very dryly:
Tom: Sometimes, I just want to drive them to rehab myself.
During a recent interview with Us Weekly, Griffin confirmed the encounter.
“It’s all real! You can confirm it with Hanks. You can confirm it with Harry. He even tweeted at me later!” the funnywoman told Us, recalling when Styles tweeted at her about his coat that he had left with Griffin at the concert. “@kathygriffin I just found an Oreo in my pocket… Is it yours? Thanks for looking after it .xx,” the former boy-bander wrote at the time.
In the book, the former Life on the D-List reality star also recalls her feuds with Ashton Kutcher, Jon Hamm and other Hollywood’s A-listers.
Kathy Griffin’s Celebrity Run-Ins: My A-Z Index is available now.
