Richard E. Grant 'edited' friends out of his life over their response to the death of his wife

Richard E. Grant has revealed that there are some friends he will “never see again” after cutting them out of his life because of how they avoided him following the death of his wife, Joan Washington.The legendary actor, 69, said he could not forgive those who sidestepped him to avoid awkward conversations during this period - something he had previously spoken about.In a new interview with The Times, Grant said: “I’m very unequivocal, black-and-white, all-or-nothing.“I’ve tried to go for the grey areas but it’s not succeeded for very long. There are people that have been edited out of my life and I will never see them again.“If i had done that to them, I wouldn’t be able to look them in the face,” he added.Richard E Grant says he can’t do ‘grey areas’ in friendshipGettyAsked if he could forgive them if they had good intentions, Grant said it was a clear “no, portcullis down”, concluding: “Goodbye.”Washington, a voice and dialect coach, died in an eight-month battle with lung cancer, leaving behind Grant and their daughter, Olivia Grant.The Jack and Sarah star shared a video on Instagram detailing a bizarre encounter with some so-called friends he said he had known for 25 years, who “ducked” their heads when they saw him instead of saying hello.“I’ve returned to the South of France and have just seen a Swedish couple that I’ve known for 25 years. As I walked toward them, they just ducked their heads, what were they expecting? Extraordinary,” he said in the clip.Grant captioned the post: “Walking widower encountering so called ‘friends’ who edit themselves out of your Life.”Read MoreHe recalled the incident later that year during an appearance at The Times and Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival: “It was the market day and I saw Gustav turn to Marlen, his wife, and as I walked towards them they both turned their heads.“I thought, ‘F*** you’. I felt I was being punished because Joan had died. They had never acknowledged it. Maybe they didn't know how to deal with it.”He continued: “What I have really learnt is that if you don't talk about the person that has died you are essentially saying to the person who is bereaved that person doesn't exist, or they have been cancelled.”In his recent interview, Grant said he still writes to Washington every night before bed.He also spoke about the prospect of finding love again, but could not comprehend the idea, telling the publication: “I know it happens but I’ve not had any twinkles of that yet,” he said.Earlier this year, Grant revealed that, years ago, he had cut off someone he thought of as one of his best friends when he was accidentally copied into a “toxic” email he was never supposed to read.In an appearance on the Mad, Sad & Bad podcast with Paloma Faith, he explained that this person had “sent an email from Africa to a mutual friend in Australia who'd asked for my email address, and, because my name was in the body of the email, I got inadvertently sent this email”.The message “arrived on a day when I had heard for a third time that a film that I’d written and was about to direct, the finances had collapsed”, he said, adding that he had been filming the final episode of Frasier at the time. The episode aired in May 2004.Grant described the email as containing “such toxicity” that he immediately ended the friendship, adding: “I thought, ‘That's not a real friend anymore.’ And I was absolutely devastated.“So I copied and pasted that and then sent it back. And I said, ‘29 years of friendship?’”He said the way the relationship had ended was “just brutal” because “that person knows you in the most formative part of your life, when you’re still dreaming of getting regular work out there as an actor”.”Nevermind the other things that have happened to me since. So when you’re betrayed like that, there’s no going back for me.”