Austin Butler earned praise at the 2023 Oscars on Sunday when he walked the champagne carpet in a pair of sleek high-heeled shoes.
The Elvis star, who is nominated for Best Actor for his portrayal of the King of Rock and Roll, arrived outside the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles on 12 March wearing a black velvet tux by Saint Laurent. He paired the double-breasted suit with a white button-down shirt and a black bow tie.
However, it was perhaps Butler’s patent leather platforms that stole the show. The shiny black heeled dress shoes caught the attention of fans as they took to Twitter to praise the actor for his rule-defying look.
“Austin Butler is giving rockabilly early Elvis, do y’all see the cha cha heel he’s wearing, YSL is always sexy,” wrote one fan on Twitter.
“Those heels that Austin Butler is wearing are hiiiiiiigh,” noted another Twitter user.
A third person wrote: “Woo baby those heels baby!”
Instead of walking the red – or in this case, champagne-coloured – carpet with his girlfriend Kaia Gerber, Butler reportedly brought his longtime agent, James Farrell.
The 31-year-old Oscar nominee and the 21-year-old model began dating in 2021, but made their debut as a couple nearly a year ago at the Met Gala. Gerber – the daughter of supermodel Cindy Crawford and businessman Rande Gerber – joined Butler at Cannes Film Festival for the premiere of Elvis.
Butler isn’t the only star known for his portrayal of Elvis Presley. Kaia Gerber’s ex-boyfriend, Euphoria actor Jacob Elordi, is also set to play Elvis in Sofia Coppola’s upcoming movie Priscilla, which will focus on the musician’s wife Priscilla Presley.
When asked by Variety if he has “advice” for Elordi, whom Gerber previously dated from September 2020 to February 2021, Butler said he wishes Elordi “all the best” before noting that the pair “haven’t spoken”.
“We haven’t spoken but I hope he has a great time,” Butler continued.
However, some fans on social media described the exchange as “awkward” because of the romantic history between Elordi and Gerber. Meanwhile, the Carrie Diaries star previously dated High School Musical alum Vanessa Hudgens for nearly a decade.
Earlier this year, Butler received backlash when he claimed in an interview that a “friend” had influenced him to play Elvis Presley after they heard him sing. However, internet sleuths realised that Butler’s former partner Hudgens had spoken in a previous interview about how she was the one to tell Butler about his resemblance to Presley.
Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, Butler set the record straight and clarified that his ex-girlfriend was the one who told him he should play Elvis Presley. “I was with my partner at the time,” he said.
When asked if it had been Hudgens, he confirmed: “That’s right. We’d been together for so long and she had this sort of clairvoyant moment and so I really, I owe her a lot for believing in me.”
Butler is nominated alongside fellow actors Brendan Fraser, Colin Farrell, Bill Nighy, and Paul Mescal. Here is the full list of Oscar 2023 winners.
