Austin Butler defends calling ex Vanessa Hudgens his ‘friend’ after 8 years together

He’s in a ring of fire.

Austin Butler clarified his statement Tuesday after several fans got angry with the “Elvis” star for calling ex-girlfriend Vanessa Hudgens his “friend” after their 8-year relationship.

“Oh, yeah, I learned a lesson with that one,” Butler, 32, said during an interview with Esquire. “I felt that I was respecting her privacy in a way and not wanting to bring up a ton of things that would cause her to have to talk.

“I have so much love and care for her. It was in no way trying to erase anything,” he added.

Butler, who dated Hudgens from 2011 to 2020, said that the comment was said because he values his “own privacy so much, I didn’t want to give up anybody else’s privacy.”

Butler drew the ire of fans after the “Dune” actor mentioned his ex-girlfriend during a 2023 Hollywood Reporter’s Actors Roundtable.

“The month before I heard that Baz [Luhrmann] was making the movie, I was going to look at Christmas lights with a friend, and there was an Elvis Christmas song on the radio and I was singing along,” Butler said in the video. “And my friend looked over at me and goes, ‘You’ve got to play Elvis.’ I said, ‘Oh, that’s such a long shot.’ “

“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 gotta figure out how you can get the rights to a script.’ Then my agent called and said, ‘So Baz Luhrmann is making an Elvis film.’ “

Shortly after the video was posted online, many netizens were able to connect Butler to Hudgens, who shared a similar story in 2019 while appearing on “Live with Kelly and Ryan.”

“Last December, we were driving along and we were listening to Christmas music, and then an Elvis Presley Christmas song came on,” Hudgens, 35, said while on the show. “He had just dyed his hair dark. He’s a natural blond, and I was looking at him and he was singing along and I was like, ‘Babe, you need to play Elvis.’ “

“Then in January, he was sitting at the piano,” she added. “And he’s playing and he’s singing and I’m like, ‘I don’t know how, but you need to figure out how you can play Elvis. Like, I don’t know how we get rights or what we do, but you need to play him.’ “

Butler, who is dating model Kaia Gerber, went on to play the King of Rock and Roll and received a Golden Globe for his portrayal as well as an Oscar nomination for Best Actor.

Hudgens tied the knot with Seattle Mariners outfielder Cole Tucker, 27, in 2023.

“He’s just kind of perfect for me,” she told Entertainment Tonight in April 2021. “I am [happy]. I really am. I think that it’s also so important to stay grateful for everything that you have in life. I’ve been making that a priority, and I feel like it’s just been making magic happen all the more.”