Michael Douglas has opened up about an awkward incident from the 1990s, when a confrontation with Julia Roberts at a party following the Golden Globes affected their relationship.
The incident took place in 1990, when Douglas was producing the film Flatliners, which starred Roberts and Kiefer Sutherland among its leading actors. The actor had also brought his son, Cameron, who was 13 years old at the time.
According to Douglas’ account in his new memoir, One Helluva Ride, he saw Roberts near his son at the event’s bar. The actor admits that he had been drinking heavily and misinterpreted the situation.
Douglas recalls telling the actress:
“Take your hands off my son, and take that Golden Globe and shove it where the sun doesn’t shine.”
The following day, Douglas realized that his reaction had gone too far. He says his producing partner called him and told him they needed to talk, as the incident had involved one of Hollywood’s most sought-after actresses at the time.
The actor then attempted to make amends. He sent Roberts flowers along with an apology and later apologized to both her and Kiefer Sutherland in person.
Roberts and Sutherland remained part of the production, and Flatliners was completed, but Douglas acknowledges that his relationship with Roberts never returned to what it had been before.
“We stayed friends with Kiefer. With Julia, not so much,” he writes in his memoir.
In One Helluva Ride, Douglas also speaks candidly about the period when he struggled with alcohol and cocaine addiction. He describes the incident with Roberts as one of the episodes he has remembered with embarrassment and regret for years.
