Ethan Hawke has admitted that he tried to flirt with Rihanna at the 2015 NBA All-Star game.
The actor recalled the incident, which was famously caught on tape, in an interview with Variety with his daughter Maya Hawke.
“I’ve been caught by the paparazzi openly flirting with Rihanna,” Hawke admitted in the interview. Maya chimed in, “Trying to.”
Hawke accepted the correction. “Trying to flirt,” he continued. “So that’s been to the family shame, so you’re really touching a nerve.” Maya, however, replied, “No, it’s family pride.”
Levon, whom Hawke forced to switch seats so he could chat with Rihanna, received an apology from him in a sequence of pictures that he shared on his Instagram page at the time.
“After Rihanna’s brilliant half time performance, I’m hoping my son can find it in his heart to forgive a Dad for taking his moment,” Hawke wrote.
Elsewhere in the interview, Variety asked if Hawke would prefer to go to a Rihanna concert or a Lady Gaga concert. Maya replied that he would, of course, pick Rihanna, while Hawke said “both.”
“I have been to a Lady Gaga concert and I haven’t been to a RiRi concert,” Hawke told his daughter. “I took you to Lady Gaga.” Maya quickly reminded him that this wasn’t true. “Oh no, we went to see Madonna, and we [were] sitting next to Lady Gaga,” Hawke corrected himself.
