Police in Australia have launched an investigation involving actor Jacob Elordi, who allegedly assaulted a radio producer over a Saltburn joke-gone-wrong.
After numerous local reports about the incident emerged in Sydney this weekend, The Kyle & Jackie O Show producer Joshua Fox on Monday told his side of the story. As part of an interview with KIIS FM, Fox accused Elordi of grabbing his throat after he asked the star for his bathwater, a reference to a scene in the 2023 film Saltburn.
Elordi has not commented publicly on the incident.
In his version of events, Fox said he approached Elordi, 26, as he and a group of friends were leaving a beer garden at Sydney’s Clovelly Hotel on Saturday. Fox recorded part of his interaction with Elordi. The radio station played a portion of the audio during their broadcast on Monday.
In the clip, Fox can be heard introducing himself to Elordi. The radio producer then handed Elordi an empty Tupperware container that read “Jacob Elordi’s bathwater.”
The actor, who clearly didn’t think the prank was very funny, replied, “What am I supposed to do with this?”
In the audio, Fox explained that he has a co-worker who admires Elordi and said he wanted to gift her the bathwater.
Elordi simply replied: “You’re kidding me.”
He then asked Fox to stop filming and the producer complied.
During his interview, Fox acknowledged that Elordi had been polite while the camera was on. Then, once the camera was off, Fox alleged Elordi backed him up against a wall and “got up in my face.”
Fox said Elordi asked him to delete the footage. Since “the joke didn’t land,” Fox said he agreed — though he did not remove the video from the Recently Deleted file on his phone, which preserves a file for a period of time. Fox said he did not want to fully delete the video because he feared there would be a physical altercation between he and Elordi.
“It’s like a switch went off, and he’s becoming quite aggressive, and I’m feeling intimidated,” Fox claimed.
He claimed the Euphoria actor then grabbed him by the throat.
Fox said the altercation was ended by someone with Elordi, who stepped in to separate the pair.
For the uninitiated, Fox’s joke was in reference to a buzzed-about scene from Saltburn, where Barry Keoghan’s character, Oliver Quick, drinks Elordi’s character’s bathwater as it drains from the tub.
The New South Wales Police Force confirmed to Variety that they are currently investigating the incident. Fox said he did not alert police himself and did not press charges.
“Officers attached to Eastern Beaches Police Area Command are investigating after a man was allegedly assaulted outside a hotel in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs,” police told the outlet. “Police were told about 3:30 p.m. on Saturday 3 February 2024, a 32-year-old man was allegedly assaulted by a 26-year-old man. The man did not sustain any injuries. Inquiries into the incident is continuing.”
This was not the first time Elordi has been asked about the Saltburn bathtub scene. During an interview on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Elordi playfully smelled a candle inspired by “Jacob Elordi’s bathwater.”
This week, even the popular cosmetics brand Lush released a bath bomb in the U.K. inspired by the Saltburn scene.
Elordi, who is an Australian native, has skyrocketed to international fame in recent years. On top of the success of Saltburn, Elordi also recently starred as Elvis Presley in Sofia Coppola’s biographical drama Priscilla. Elordi earlier won hearts as star quarterback Nate Jacobs in HBO’s Euphoria.