Vanessa Hudgens shares cryptic message with fans after run-in with ex Austin Butler at Oscars after party

A viral video captured the former couple walking past each other at the Oscars 2023 after party

Vanessa Hudgens has seemingly reacted to her awkward run-in with ex-boyfriend Austin Butler at the 2023 Oscars after party by urging her fans to “only talk about peace”.

The High School Musical alum took to her Instagram story on Monday 13 March, one day after this year’s Academy Awards, where she reposted a clip of Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel speaking to activist Malala Yousafzai.

During the awards ceremony, Kimmel asked “the youngest Nobel Prize winner in history” whether she believed “Harry Styles spit on Chris Pine” at the Venice Film Festival premiere of Don’t Worry Darling last year. Choosing not to weigh in on the infamous “spitgate” debacle, Malala replied: “I only talk about peace.”

The Spring Breakers star appeared to echo Malala’s expert response when she captioned her Instagram story, “Let’s all be on the ‘I only talk about peace’ train. OK?”

The cryptic social media post comes just days after Vanessa Hudgens ran into Austin Butler, her ex-boyfriend of nearly a decade, at the Vanity Fair Oscars after party on Sunday night. A video obtained by US Weekly captured the moment the 34-year-old singer walked past the 31-year-old Elvis star outside the Hollywood event. In the clip, which has since gone viral on Twitter, Hudgens could be seen looking down at her phone and walking past her ex-boyfriend as he stood next to Sharon Stone and blew a kiss to fans.

Before Austin Butler was nominated for an Oscar for his role as Elvis Presley in the Baz Lurhman biopic, the Disney Channel alum was in a relationship with Hudgens from 2011 to 2020. The pair were introduced by Hudgens’ High School Musical co-star Ashley Tisdale, who had starred alongside Butler in the Disney movie, Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure.

In January 2020, it was confirmed that Hudgens and Butler had split. A source later told People that the pair had discussed an engagement prior to breaking up, but admitted that their “busy work schedules and travel” put a “strain on the relationship.”

Vanessa Hudgens posts clip of Malala Yousafzai saying she’ll ‘only talk about peace’ (Instagram / Vanessa Hudgens)

The former couple’s relationship made headlines earlier this year, when Butler said in a roundtable interview with The Hollywood Reporter that a “friend” had insisted he should play Presley. However, fans of the pair recalled that Hudgens had once said she was the one to tell Butler about his resemblance to the singer.

“He had just dyed his hair dark… and I was like, ‘Babe, you need to play Elvis. I don’t know how, but I’m serious. You need to play him,’” she said during a 2019 appearance on Live with Kelly and Ryan. “Then in January, he was sitting at the piano – he’s a musician – and he’s playing and he’s singing and I’m like, ‘I don’t know how, but we need to figure out how you can play Elvis. Like, I don’t know how we get rights or what we do, but you need to play him.’”

In fact, after it was announced in 2019 that Butler would play the role of Presley in the Baz Luhrman biopic, Hudgens posted the news to her Instagram account and shared her excitement for Butler. “I AMMMM OVERRRR THE F***ING MOOOOOOOOONNNNN. I CANT WAIT,” she wrote. “SO PROUD OF MY HONEYYYYY!!!”

Butler later confirmed to The Los Angeles Times that his story was indeed about his ex-girlfriend. “I was with my partner at the time,” he clarified. “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.”

In February 2023, Vanessa Hudgens confirmed her engagement to MLB player Cole Tucker after two years of dating. Meanwhile, Butler attended Vanity Fair’s Oscars after party with his girlfriend, model Kaia Gerber. The actor and the daughter of supermodel Cindy Crawford were first romantically linked in December 2021. In March 2022, the two confirmed their relationship at W Magazine’s Best Performances party.