Richard E. Grant shares why some friendships are over for good

Richard E. Grant says he will never forgive certain friends who failed to support him after his wife passed away.

Grant's wife, Joan Washington, passed away in 2021 after a battle with lung cancer. He has previously shared that some people they knew avoided reaching out during that difficult time.

In a new interview, Grant explained that he takes a firm approach when it comes to relationships, saying he doesn't believe in middle ground when someone has let him down in a meaningful way.

"I’m very unequivocal, black and white, all or nothing," he told Sunday Times magazine. “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."

He iterated, "If I had done that to them, I wouldn’t be able to look them in the face.”

When asked whether he could forgive them if they had good intentions, Grant said no, explaining that once someone crosses that line with him, the relationship is simply over.

“No, portcullis down. Goodbye,” he concluded.

On a lighter note, Grant also shared that he now lives with his daughter, her husband, and their newborn baby, after previously living together during the pandemic.

He joked that the living arrangement has essentially reversed roles, with him now living in what used to be his daughter's part of the home.

Grant also described his experience becoming a grandfather.“Seeing your child become the parent of their child is … how do you quantify that? It is the most fulfilling thing to see.”

He circled back on it after a while, saying, “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. I instantly thought, how many Christmases will I have to share with the grandchild? That’s the thing that galvanises you — how many years of life you have left.

“I’m 69 —he oldest man in showbusiness — so I’m hoping for another 31 years, but the likelihood of that is slim... 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.”