How Michael Douglas fell out with Julia Roberts for good in 1990
In his memoirs, the actor recounts a very drunken evening at the Golden Globes, during the filming of The Forbidden Experiment, which ended his friendship with Julia Roberts.
He’s in intimate confession mode.
After revealing his affair with Kathleen Turner in his memoirs, One Helluva RideMichael Douglas recounts his quarrel with Julia Roberts, during an evening which definitively damaged his friendship with the star, then at the start of his Hollywood rise.
The incident took place in 1990. The filming of The Forbidden Experience (Flatliners) is in progress, under the leadership of Joel Schumacher. The young actress shares the bill with Kiefer Sutherland, her companion at the time. And as producer, we find a certain Michael Douglas.
All these little people meet up at a party organized after the Golden Globes. Douglas is present. He was at the ceremony, nominated for The War of the Roseswhile Julia Roberts has just received the award for Best Supporting Actress for Women’s gossip. She brought Sutherland. Douglas, for his part, came with his son Cameron, then 13 years old, born from his union with his ex-wife Diandra. Everything happens at the bar. Michael Douglas sees Julia Roberts with her son:
“We were at the bar, and Julia had her arm around my son, kind of snuggled up against him. To me, at that moment, he seemed uncomfortable… But hey, I was very drunk…“
An important clarification, since the actor writes in his book that an ordinary evening, for him, at the time, was “like five drinks and a gram of coke”. His judgment that evening was therefore, in his own words, far from ideal. Seeing Roberts with his son, Douglas loses his temper:
“Take your hands off my son! Take your Golden Globe and go put it where the sun doesn’t shine!“
The next morning, reality hits him again.
His production partner Rick Bieber calls him and says: “We need to talk, Michael.” Michael Douglas then understands the seriousness of the situation:
“I had crossed the line with the most sought-after actress in Hollywood…“
He then attempts to repair the damage. The actor/producer sends flowers to Julia Roberts and apologizes in person to the actress as well as to Kiefer Sutherland, who was also present at the time of the outburst.
“Luckily, they forgave me enough that we could get through this and finish the film… I remained friends with Kiefer. With Julia, much less.”
Douglas concludes by emphasizing that this incident “extremely embarrassing“marked him”for years“.
