Russell Crowe is a complicated character. When he leans in a certain direction, he goes full throttle, and that can be good and bad. He is a great actor, and he has more than a few anger management issues. I’d say he would do himself a lot of favors by not being on Twitter/X, but then we wouldn’t have gotten this lovely account of his chance meeting with Sinead O’Connor last year while he was filming The Pope’s Exorcist. Upon learning of her passing on Wednesday, Russell shared his memories of Sinead:
For Russell Crowe, nothing will ever compare to this memorable encounter.
In the wake of Sinead O’Connor’s death, the actor shared a moving tribute in which he reflected on a chance meeting with the late singer outside a pub in a suburb of Dublin.
“Last year, working in Ireland, having a pint in the cold outside a Dalkey pub with some new friends, a woman with purpose strode past us,” Russell began a series of tweets July 26. “One of my new friends muttered an exclamation, jumped up and pursued the woman. Thirty metres down the road the friend and the woman embraced and he waived me over.”
The Beautiful Mind star continued, “There under streetlights with mist on my breath, I met Sinead. She looked in my eyes, and uttered with disarming softness ‘oh, it’s you Russell.’”
The 59-year-old noted that she then went on to join the group for a cup of tea.
“In a conversation without fences,” he recalled, “we roamed through the recent Dublin heatwave, local politics, American politics, the ongoing fight for indigenous recognition in many places, but particularly in Australia, her warm memory of New Zealand, faith, music, movies and her brother the writer.”
The Gladiator actor said he was able to tell the “Nothing Compares 2 U” artist that she was one of his heroes.
“When her second cup was taking on the night air, she rose, embraced us all and strode away into the fog-dimmed streetlights,” the Oscar winner finished. “We sat there the four of us and variously expressed the same thing. What an amazing woman. Peace be with your courageous heart Sinead.”
”There under streetlights with mist on my breath, I met Sinead. She looked in my eyes, and uttered with disarming softness ‘oh, it’s you Russell.’” Dang, Rusty can write! It’s sensitive moments like these that make Russell Crowe confounding to me. The person who tweeted this beautiful moment is the same one who tantrum-tweeted Virgin Airlines about hoverboards. Oh, humanity. I hope this means we’ll be seeing a more thoughtful, calmer Russell, but I won’t hold my breath either. What I will do is join him in saluting the dearly departed, and I certainly can’t say it better than he did:
“Peace be with your courageous heart Sinead.”
Last year, working in Ireland, having a pint in the cold outside a Dalkey pub with some new friends, a woman with purpose strode past us. Puffy parker zipped to the nape and her bowed head covered in a scarf. One of my new friends muttered an exclamation, jumped up
— Russell Crowe (@russellcrowe) July 26, 2023
Photos credit: Avalon.red and Getty
Russell has spoken about the written word before. His favorite poet was Tynnison. He even named his kid after him.
*gently says* Tennyson
Lovely story. I have been sad about this all week and likely will be for a long time.
Same🥀
Me too. She was my idol from the moment my brother brought home the Lion and the Cobra record and I heard this woman roaring from the living room. I was blown away and he gave me the record. 🙂 I was 13 and it forever changed me. I remember waiting for her album releases and driving 30 minutes to the mall (I lived in a small town in Ontario) to pick it up and crying on the way home when I heard Scarlett Ribbons. Oh Sinead, my heart is broken for you .. I loved this Russell Crowe story. My favourite part is how she said “oh it’s you, Russell”. Nothing phased her, she was too cool for this world.
It’s good hearing his story of her and told so well. Such a strong woman but I know losing her son was a mortal wound as people say. I like the idea they are together again.
Twitter is so broken. I deleted my membership and now when I click on the embedded tweets on Celebitchy I get either a notice that I need to join Twitter or in this case I can see the embedded tweet but Twitter won’t let me read the whole thread or any replies.
Yes it remind me of Lisa Marie Presley and Anna Nicole Smith who died soon after their sons passed.
This is a lovely story. Thanks for sharing
I’m a visual person and when someone writes really well, I see it clearly in my mind’s eye and it comes to life. When I read Russell Crowe’s Twitter thread, that is what happened. It felt like I was there with them in that moment and it made me cry over her death that much more.
I do so hope she is at peace.
Beautifully told.
I confess I had a mad crush on Russel during the Gladiator years. I have read his interviews he can be super charming one minute and a prick the next.
Russell is a talented actor but has let the instrument of his craft totally deteriorate through what seems to be a lack of discipline. He looks sick; let’s face it. Not politically correct to comment on people’s bodies but it’s just sad to see a pretty big talent do this to himself.
Also, if you haven’t read it, check out the old article I Was Russell Crowe’s Stooge. The guy is VERY conscious of his image and proactively manages his PR to to an unusual degree – or at least he did.