It’s OK, girl. Ryan Gosling argues in a new video to promote his upcoming film, The Nice Guys, that he never said the classic line “hey, girl” that has inspired thousands of memes of the actor.
In the skit for Buzzfeed Celeb, the Notebook hunk, 35, argues with costar Russell Crowe during a couples therapy session helmed by Melissa Rauch. “Don’t you think that I have a right to know that you’re engaging in this kind of commercialism?” Crowe, 52, angrily asks in a room full of Gosling-themed merchandise with much of it sporting the phrase “hey, girl.”
“I didn’t have anything to do with it” says Gosling. “This is a charade!”
“I never said it. I understand if you’re in a movie and you say ‘you complete me’ or ‘I’m just a girl standing in front of a guy’ and that follows you around and you gotta own that,” he continues, referring to the iconic line that Tom Cruise uttered in the 1996 film Jerry Maguire and the classic quote Julia Roberts recited in the 1999 movie Notting Hill. “But I never said it.”
This isn’t the first time Gosling has denied saying the popular catchphrase, which is now synonymous with his name. He also revealed in 2015 during a panel discussion at South by Southwest that he has not once said “hey, girl” in any project.
The meme started back in 2008 on a Tumblr fan page and quickly went viral. Now, thousands of versions exist that feature different pickup lines and sayings, but they all start with the same two words. There’s even a Tumblr page devoted specifically to feminist Gosling memes, which the actor addresses in the video.
Watch the clip to see what else the Big Short star has to say about Crowe’s intervention!
The Nice Guys hits theaters May 20.
