Richard E Grant Cuts Off Friends Over Wife’s Death and Betrayal

Richard E Grant has permanently severed ties with friends who distanced themselves after the death of his wife, Joan Washington, who died in 2021 after an eight-month battle with lung cancer, according to an interview with The Times.

Grant, 69, who was married to Washington for 35 years and has a daughter named Olivia, said he will never forgive those who avoided him during his time of grief.

"I’m very unequivocal, black and white, all or nothing," Grant said. "I’ve tried to go for the grey areas but it’s not succeeded for very long. There are people that have been edited out of my life and I will never see them again. If I had done that to them, I wouldn’t be able to look them in the face."

He added, "No, portcullis down. Goodbye."

Grant also shared that he still writes to his late wife every night and finds the idea of companionship again incomprehensible. "I know it happens but I’ve not had any twinkles of that yet," he said.

Earlier this year, Grant revealed he ended a 29-year friendship after he was accidentally copied on an email containing "brutal" comments about a script he wrote, which was autobiographical and inspired his 2005 film Wah-Wah.

He described the email as filled with "such toxicity" and said, "I thought, ‘That's not a real friend anymore.’ And I was absolutely devastated."

Grant recounted, "So I copied and pasted that and then sent it back. And I said, ‘29 years of friendship?’"

His daughter questioned whether the friendship was genuine from the start. "Our daughter was very smart, because she was 16, so exactly 20 years ago. She said to me, ‘In your heart of hearts, haven’t you always known this about that person?’"

Grant reflected on the betrayal, saying, "Because that person knows you in the most formative part of your life, when you're still dreaming of getting regular work out there as an actor. Nevermind the other things that have happened to me since. So when you’re betrayed like that, there’s no going back for me."

After his wife’s death, Grant now lives in a commune with his daughter Olivia and her husband, with whom he recently became a grandfather. He described the experience as "incredible" and reflected on mortality.

"Seeing your child become the parent of their child is … how do you quantify that? It is the most fulfilling thing to see," he said. "I’ve felt that overwhelming thing that you’re part of the cycle of life. You’ve gone through death and now there’s a birth."

Grant added, "A grandchild underlines your own mortality but that’s a good thing because you don’t waste time on stuff. You have a finite amount of time ahead of you."