- Vanessa Hudgens told fans to 'only talk about peace' after a run-in with Austin Butler went viral.
- Hudgens and Butler crossed paths at an Oscars after-party on Sunday.
Vanessa Hudgens wants people to stop fixating on her awkward run-in with ex-boyfriend Austin Butler.
The former couple, who dated from 2011 to 2020, crossed paths at Vanity Fair's Oscars after-party on Sunday, with Hudgens quickly glancing at Butler before looking down at her phone and quickly walking past. Butler, for his part, appeared to glance her way once she walked by.
After a video clip of that uncomfortable moment went viral, Hudgens posted an Instagram Story seemingly addressing the online chatter and paraphrasing Malala Yousafzai's words during this year's Oscars.
"Let's all be on the 'I only talk about peace' train," Hudgens wrote in the caption. "OK?"
While the exes have long since moved on — Hudgens is engaged to Cole Tucker, and Butler is dating Kaia Gerber — Butler has previously credited Hudgens with helping him nab the role of Elvis Presley in "Elvis."
While recounting how he landed the role during a roundtable interview with The Hollywood Reporter in January, Butler mentioned a "friend" who encouraged him to find a way to play Presley in a film. The actor eventually confirmed that "friend" was actually Hudgens, who he was dating at the time.
"So I was looking at Christmas lights," Butler explained. "There was an Elvis Christmas song on the radio, and I was with a friend of mine, and I was singing along, and my friend kind of looked over at me and goes, 'You've got to play Elvis. I said, 'Oh, that's such a long shot.'"
"Then a couple of weeks later, I was playing the piano," he continued. "I never really sang for any of my friends or anything. That same friend was there, and I was playing the piano. She said, 'I'm serious. You've got to figure out how you can get the rights to a script.'"
Butler's performance was well-received by critics and earned him a slew of awards, including a Golden Globe and a BAFTA. So while their relationship didn't last, reportedly due to work schedules and "a matter of distance," Hudgens clearly left a mark on Butler, which he admitted to the Los Angeles Times.
"She had this sort of clairvoyant moment and so I really, I owe her a lot for believing in me," Butler said.