Australian authorities are reportedly investigating allegations of an assault after a local radio reporter accused Jacob Elordi of choking him during a failed prank over the weekend.
On Saturday, Australian radio station KIIS FM’s Joshua Fox approached Brisbane-born Elordi — whose stock has risen sharply after his villainous performance in Euphoria led to a star-making in the thriller Saltburn — at a local pub in southeast Sydney after hearing the star was in town ahead of the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards on Feb. 8.
Outside the hotel, the reporter for the Kyle and Jackie O Breakfast Show says he approached Elordi, handing him a labeled jar and asking the actor if he would fill it with his bathwater — a reference to one of Saltburn’s much–discussed moments and now-viral bathtub scene. In an interview for the Kyle and Jackie O Breakfast Show, Fox claims that request angered Elordi, whom he then says demanded he stop filming and eventually attacked the radio producer after slamming him against a wall.
In audio of the incident released by KIIS FM on Monday, Fox, who is known to crash weddings on his Instagram account MAFS Funny, is heard approaching Elordi, who is initially cordial — until the odd request is made; Fox says the bathwater would be a gift for his show’s host, Jackie Henderson.
“Could I give you this? Jackie wants a birthday present,” he asks of Elordi, who reads the container’s label aloud.
“Jacob Elordi’s Bath Water. What am I supposed to do with this?” Elordi asks Fox, who replies that he should return it to the studio once it’s filled, much to the actor’s apparent chagrin. “You’re kidding me…are you filming? Can you not, man, please?”
Fox said that he cut off the recording then as his prank “didn’t land.” But Elordi soon attempted to intimidate him, according to the producer’s account of the incident.
“He kind of gets up in my face… He’s a lot taller than me. I could’ve kissed him, he was that close,” he said in the on-air interview. “I’m backed against this wall, he’s right in my face and his two boys are now either side of me. … It was kind of scary. I’m feeling quite intimated, and Jacob demands I delete the footage.”
Fox claims that when he did not oblige Elordi’s demand, for the sake of preserving evidence, “Jacob flips and he kind of pushes me against the wall, and his hands are on my throat.”
He says one of “his boys” pulled Elordi off of Fox, and the altercation dissipated. Fox says one of them approached him after saying not to talk about the incident.
Fox said in the Kyle and Jackie O Breakfast Show he does not intend to press charges and has already spoken to police. “I just want this to end,” said Fox, of the story circulating. “I’ve said my piece now. The story’s out there. Let’s move on. Jacob, go do your own thing. Maybe next time someone speaks to you on the street don’t grab them, allegedly.”
New South Wales police said in a statement to news.au that they’re investigating an incident at a hotel in Sydney’s suburbs on Saturday. Neither Elordi nor Fox are named in the police statement.
“Police were told about 3:30 pm on Saturday 3 February 2024, a 32-year-old man was allegedly assaulted by a 26-year-old man,” it reads. “The man did not sustain any injuries.”
The essence of Elordi has been a subject of fascination since the release of Saltburn, which features a scene in which Barry Keoghan’s Oliver drinks dirty bathwater into which Elordi’s Felix had ejaculated. Candles dubbed “Jacob Elordi’s Bathwater” have emerged for sale on Etsy and Amazon and the actor was asked to describe the smell of one on a recent appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
THR has reached out to reps for Elordi.